Love Is Like Fire
by xXxCometxXx
Summary: Anna and Kai after 3 years seperation and no memories except the traces of a family legacy are finally reunited: whilst everyone else tries to make sense of the relationship they share and the mystical powers of the Moonshine magic, the pair know that the danger they had been running from is now closer than ever - and will slowly begin to test the strength of their relationship...
1. Bitbeasts, attacks and defences

NB: Moonlight's attacks and defenses are based on the fact that she can control the four elements: earth, air, fire and water. The element that Moonlight controls the most is fire.  
The other bitbeasts only have one element to control; the Combination of Nature attack is based on all of these bitbeasts (maybe others too!) being able to combine their elements into one huge attack with either two or four of earth, air, fire and water.  
The attacks and the defenses are in the order of how often they are used.

* * *

Owner: Annastacia Moonshine  
Bitbeast: Moonlight ~ Blade: Moonlight Sky  
Attacks: Flaming Sky / Solar Strike / Oceans Deep / Aero Dive / Gaia Leap / Combination of Nature  
Defenses: Ignited Saviour / Lightening Ring / Magic Flood / Winged Barrier / Earth Escape

* * *

Owner: Rachel Smith  
Bitbeast: Aquamarine ~ Blade: Aqua Deep  
Attacks: Aqua Spring / Warning Call / Rippling Waters / Combination of Nature  
Defenses: Water Cavern / Tail Swing / Lagoon

* * *

Owner: Rebecca Smith  
Bitbeast: Topaz ~ Blade: Topaz Gaia  
Attacks: Icicle Fangs / Invisible Blizzard / Claw Slice / Combination of Nature  
Defenses: Winters Roar / Tigers Eye / Cat Jump

* * *

Owner: Elaina Dela Vega  
Bitbeast: Osiris ~ Blade: Osiris Storm  
Attacks: Feather Storm / Wing Strike / Fierce Hurricane / Combination of Nature  
Defenses: Air Shield / Eagles Cry / Dangerous Swoop

* * *

Owner: Stephanie Banks  
Bitbeast: Coralla ~ Blade: Coral Blue  
Attacks: Tsunami / Sea Glide / Ancient SeaWorld / Combination of Nature  
Defenses: Wipeout / Seasnake / Electric Slash

* * *

Owner: Kathryn Capulet  
Bitbeast: Medusa ~ Blade: Meduse Coil  
Attacks: Multiply / Boas Strangle / Venomous Bite / Combination of Nature  
Defenses: Whiplash / Woven Coil / Camouflage

* * *

Owner: Abigail Wise  
Bitbeast: Rainbow ~ Blade: Rainbow Dream  
Attack: Magic Dust / Time Freeze / Deadly Swipe / Combination of Nature  
Defenses: Colourful Sting / Disappearing Act / Flying Mantra

* * *

_Piscesgirl09: **I have to say, it was tricky trying to think of some attacks and defences that would make sense!!! Hopefully I managed to pull off making sense of what the attacks and defences might do - if you're confused, just message me!!! :) Hope you like them.**_


	2. A New Start

_**The following said story 'Love is like Fire...' is strictly property of Piscesgirl09©.**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check, Callum Fennel, Elizabeth Moonshine and Thomas Moonshine belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters.**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check, Callum Fennel, Elizabeth Moonshine and Thomas Moonshine's auto biographies exclusively belong to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters auto biographies.**_

_**The storyline of the story 'Love is like Fire…' belongs exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of this very storyline.**_

_**The ideas put forward to the creation of 'Love is like Fire…' belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very ideas. **_

_**I, Piscesgirl09, do not own Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any individuals of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the individuals of Beyblade auto biographies.  
I do not claim possession of any of the original storyline of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the ideas put forward in the creation of Beyblade.**_

_**Any who do so choose to**_ _**plagiarise, copy or steal will in due course be struck off my Favourite Author's list if you do so exist on that very page. Any continuation to carry out the acts to plagiarise, copy and steal after warning will in due course be reported to the site FanFiction for an act felony.**_

_**If you wish to make a review and/or recommend my persons elsewhere, it is asked that you please do so with constructive advice for reviewing the work of Piscesgirl09 and/or to ask my express permission to recommending the person of Piscesgirl09 elsewhere other than the site of FanFiction.**_

_**Please read all of the above with due caution.**_

_**Thank you for your co-operation.**_

It was autumn in Japan, and the Bladebreakers were about to start boarding school, as arranged by Mr Dickenson. The BBA chairman felt that the team had missed out on enough of their education, and now it was time to settle them down before the next tournament. At first the team had been situated at the dojo.

But considering that Kai was approaching 17 years old, the rest 16 years (unless you counted out Kenny and Daichi) – they all voted to staying at a boarding school where they would have more independence as well as more space to do their own thing without impinging on Grandpa Granger's home.

Today was their first day at school. They were all waiting with their bags, ready to get the school, day started by unpacking and getting to know the space. No more than usual however, Tyson and Daichi were both nowhere to be seen. They were late, and the others were getting increasingly impatient.

"Tyson and Daichi are late? And it's just the first day" Kenny sighed, constantly checking his watch with worriedly. Max gave a yawn as he tried to keep his eyes open, and Ray stood looking slightly embarrassed as some other students from the school walked past them all, throwing them funny looks. Hilary, being her usual meticulous self, was fuming. Not even for once – not even on an important school – the two lazy bladers could actually manage to get themselves to a destination at the arranged time.

Kai as ever only rolled his eyes and shut them again as he kept his distance from the group. Quite frankly, he couldn't understand how two of the best beybladers in the world ever managed to make it to the championships when they could barely get themselves out of bed at a reasonable hour in the morning. But being used to the younger boys immaturity, the cold looking bluenette just didn't say anything and let Hilary waste all her energy lecturing them on a regular basis.

Just made things more entertaining for him as he would watch Tyson and Daichi either switch off completely to anything that's said to them or whine that they needed their sleep – even though the only exercise they seemed to do in a week was beyblade training.

"Look! There they are!" Max pointed in front of him. Up the road ahead a cloud of dust appeared; indeed as Max had said, it was Tyson and Daichi - running towards them at full speed. _Why they can never manage that in training is unbelievable,_ Kai thought grumpily as yet again the pair proved him right – they were just downright lazy.

"Took you long enough!" Ray exclaimed with a cross look on his face. Tyson and Daichi looked round at all of their teammates and saw that none of them were looking very pleased – in fact, the pair were perplexed as to why everyone was so unimpressed with them.

"What's up, guys? We're here aren't we?" Tyson asked, trying to make light of the situation. But the team were having none of it. They all looked at each other with exasperated expressions on their face – they just couldn't quite believe that the two were so ignorant of the fact that they needed to make an effort on the first day. Cue awkward silence.

"You're late, you buffoons!" Hilary yelled at the top of her voice, barely able to contain herself. Everyone stepped back slightly in alarm – although they were quite used to their female 'cheerleader' getting rather stressed out over things – they had never seen her get so annoyed. But knowing the type of person she was, the bossy girl took her school work, presentation and punctuality very seriously.

So really, Tyson and Daichi's tardiness was bound to upset Hilary sooner or later. The pair opened their mouths to speak, but were quickly cut off by Hilary's upcoming rant. "Utterly selfish! Ungrateful, chauvinist, arrogant, over-confident and egotistic! You are just – oh, you are just so –" Hilary broke off, struggling to find a word to sum up the fact that she basically found the pair irritating to a degree unbearable.

"Just…?" Max put in timidly. As the group watched Hilary's face go puce with utter fury, all of them took the option to just shut up and stay out of her way. Except Daichi, who didn't seem to ever understand the concept of leaving things alone.

"Hilary…what do those words mean?" He asked, scratching his chin with his index finger. Of course, the young redhead boy thought that the question was a perfectly reasonable one for him to ask. But what he missed was that it was now too late realise that Hilary was already so pissed off that so much as a grunt would send her over the edge.

"WHAT DO THOSE WORDS MEAN? THEY MEAN THAT YOU TWO ARE ABOUT THE LAZIEST SPECIES OF HUMAN THAT I HAVE EVER COME ACROSS! NOT ONCE – _ONCE_ – CAN YOU EVEN TRY TO GET UP ON TIME IN THE MORNING! AND WHAT DO YOU DO? YOU SLEEP IN SO NOW WE'RE ALL LATE AND IT IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Hilary screamed with all the lung power she could muster – by the time she had finished, the whole street had come to a standstill.

"_Woah._ Has she gone _psycho_?"

Least to be said, the group now had an audience around the school gates. Kai sighed heavily, while Ray, Max and Kenny were staring with mouths open; eyes wide – the general picture of complete shock. No one could quite believe how Hilary had managed to let that all out in one steam, and still now able to stand glowering over Tyson and Daichi on the floor. Not to mention with the hands-on-hips stance.

If anyone who didn't hear what Hilary had just said – or screeched like a banshee – the scene looked quite amusing. At least to any passers-by who had a sense of humour.

"Hey! No fair, we're just getting used to this - getting up early everyday is tough!" Tyson whined as he and Daichi were cowering on the floor. Max slapped his forehead and gave a groan. This morning certainly wasn't go very well today – each time Hilary calmed down, Tyson and Daichi always seemed to find a way of winding her up so she would never shut up. It was starting to give everyone a headache. _I give up,_ the blond American thought.

"Not if you get into a habit of it! Anyway, we need to get in to school – we're already late and I don't want to waste anymore of my time with you!" Hilary pointed out angrily, huffily picking her bag and stalking off towards the school entrance.

"Wouldn't want to waste anymore of your precious time, princess." Tyson muttered resentfully under his breath. Kai, having listened to the whole of the conversation and been completely switched off by it, had to swallow a chuckle at Tyson's last comment. The World Champion's use of sarcasm clearly didn't do him many favours in an argument, much to Kai's amusement.

"Come on guys – we'd better go after Hilary before she decides to blow up the whole building." Kenny finally squeaked, shooting a worried look from where Tyson and Daichi were still sulking to where Hilary was now walking at top speed towards the facility.

Everyone quickly grabbed their bags and followed after Hilary, catching up with her in no time. The bossy brunette merely sniffed, but still walked with them. Ray and Max shared a quiet chuckle as they watched the three rather vocal individuals of the group ignore each other as much as they could. Even though they knew that all would be forgiven within 5 minutes –seeing as they were all used to it anyway.

As they entered the school, Tyson and Daichi's faces rapidly changed to one of complete awe as they gaped at the large expanse of corridor towards reception. "How are we going to find our way round this? This place is HUGE!" Tyson heaved dramatically, dreading the thought of having to trail endlessly round the school out of breath.

"Get a map – I'm sure walking around this place will make up very well for the lack of exercise that you conveniently never have to do." Kai suddenly interjected with a smirk as he watched the rest of his team start to giggle at the obvious dig at Tyson's – or lack of – exercise regime.

"Huh? I can't read maps! I'm confused!" Tyson replied dumbly, looking confused. Kai rolled his eyes as ever and carried on walking down the corridor. "Didn't take long." Was all the rest of the Bladebreakers heard from the bluenette as he continued towards reception.

Shrugging indifferently while muttering something like 'git' under his breath, Tyson gathered up his things and stalked after Kai. The other's finished chuckling and followed suit as they wondered whether anything else funny would happen to them today. In all honesty, for Max and Kenny, they couldn't have remembered another school morning that had been as strange as this.

As they all approached reception, a blond woman raised her head from her work and gave them a professional but strained smile as she caught sight of Tyson and Daichi now bickering over a sandwich. "Good morning. I presume you are the Bladebreakers?" The woman asked gently, trying to conceal the fact that she was rather hoping they _weren't._

Looking behind him, Ray tried to give a signal to the others, indicating if they could try and break up the argument. As they hadn't already caused enough embarrassment outside the school, it was now being brought into the school building. Not a good impression on the first day.

The Chinese teen gave the paperwork to the receptionist with the most charming smile he had possible and tried to recover the situation. "Yes, we are. Do we have to go to our rooms first?" Ray replied politely, standing patiently as he watched the blond woman nervously – she was scanning the paperwork through narrowed eyes.

Once she had finished, the receptionist looked up and gave a thin smile. Her eyes then strayed to where Tyson and Daichi had finally been calmed down thanks to Hilary and Max making sure they both had a sandwich to eat. Her eyes then returned to Ray with enhanced scrutiny.

"Yes Mr Kon, you will need to get yourselves settled in your room before you attend lessons. Here are your keys with the room number and names on; also here are your locker codes and class schedules – I might also recommend this map – just in case _one of you_ happens to get lost." The woman explained coolly, sending a rather snooty look in Tyson and Daichi's direction.

She quickly gave the mentioned items to Ray for him to hand to rest of the team and resumed her seat quietly to start tapping away quickly at her keyboard. _Clearly doesn't like youngsters – wonder why she works in a school…_Ray thought, cringing slightly. Another awkward silence. "Thank you, Miss...?" Ray started.

"My name is Rebecca, but everyone calls me Sandy here. If you wish to refer me by my last name, then do as you wish. Just don't think you can be clever with any other names that you might think you can call me." The woman gave that tight smile again as she replied rather tersely.

Clearly wanting to bring the conversation to a close, Sandy pointed imperiously down another corridor to her right. "Go down the corridor and there should be signs to direct you to your rooms. Hope you find your way without…too much trouble." She added bitchily as she continued to glare at Tyson and Daichi, making them gulp.

Hilary scowled: although she got annoyed with them frequently, at least she had reason too. She didn't think it was fair though for this snobby, unpleasant woman to go making quite inappropriate comments about the two boys she had barely seen for 5 minutes.

But nevertheless, everyone else had clearly decided to move on without much delay after their less-than-warm welcome. The team picked up their bags and headed down the corridors...


	3. Sleeping Is Part Of Biology, Right?

_**The following said story 'Love is like Fire...' is strictly property of Piscesgirl09©.**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check and Callum Fennel belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters.  
The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check and Callum Fennels auto biographies exclusively belong to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters auto biographies.  
The storyline of the story 'Love is like Fire…' belongs exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of this very storyline.  
The ideas put forward to the creation of 'Love is like Fire…' belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very ideas. **_

_**I, Piscesgirl09, do not own Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any individuals of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the individuals of Beyblade auto biographies.  
I do not claim possession of any of the original storyline of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the ideas put forward in the creation of Beyblade.**_

_**Any who do so choose to**_ _**plagiarise, copy or steal will in due course be struck off my Favourite Author's list if you do so exist on that very page. Any continuation to carry out the acts to plagiarise, copy and steal after warning will in due course be reported to the site FanFiction for an act felony.**_

_**If you wish to make a review and/or recommend my persons elsewhere, it is asked that you please do so with constructive advice for reviewing the work of Piscesgirl09 and/or to ask my express permission to recommending the person of Piscesgirl09 elsewhere other than the site of FanFiction.**_

_**Please read all of the above with due caution.**_

_**Thank you for your co-operation.**_

* * *

At the end of the corridor, the Bladebreakers went up 3 flights of stairs. As they reached the top, they saw two corridors: one for the boys, one for the girls. "I'll come find you after I've found my room and unpacked, see ya!" Hilary called and waved as she turned right down the girl's corridor.

The boys then turned left down the boy's corridor and found their room. After struggling a little while with the key, they managed to unlock the door and they went in; Max, Daichi and Tyson jumped on to a sofa in the middle.

"So who's gonna have which bed?" Daichi started to bounce up and down on the sofa – being a bit of a monkey boy, he seemed to enjoy the springiness of the sofa as he bounced high into the air.

Max and Tyson looked from Daichi to each other and pulled a face, knowing exactly what each other were thinking. Their eyes swivelled to the empty beds, before rushing to quickly choose 2 out of 3 beds against the left wall.

"We'll have these two!" They both announced, looking quite pleased with their choice - until Daichi then jumped onto the last bed on the left - next to Tyson. "I'll have this one then!" Daichi announced, grinning evilly as he watched Tyson's face fall in.

"OH MAN! NOT YOU – YOU SNORE!" Tyson yelled loudly, looking very annoyed – almost as though he was restraining himself from lunging at the younger boy and strangling him.

"Don't worry about it Tyson, you're a deep sleeper anyway so you shouldn't have much trouble." Kenny commented slyly, as he chose the bed near the door on the right wall. Tyson stopped for a moment and thought about it.

"Yeah…yeah you're right Chief! Thanks for that man!" Tyson replied brightly, looking pleased with himself that he managed to think through such a brilliant idea.

Ray, Max and Kenny had to stifle their sniggers – Tyson wasn't the dumbest guy on the planet – but it was hard to resist laughing at the fact that he had completely missed the obvious dig that had been made about his sleeping habits!

Kai took a moment while everyone was distracted to give a small, secretive smirk. He had to admit, sometimes Tyson's oblivion was quite entertaining – until it became more of a hindrance. "Well I guess you decide who goes where then, Kai." Ray turned to Kai with a smile, watching his older teammate who was leaning against the door with his eyes closed and arms crossed.

"Hn." Kai grunted, before opening his eyes to scan the room. His eyes fell on the bed nearest to the window. Without saying another, the stoic young blader picked up his bags and walked past Ray to place his belongings on his bed, back turned to everyone else.

"Ok... I guess I'm piggy in the middle" Ray shrugged it off carelessly – he was quite used to Kai's supposed 'ignorance' – he knew that Kai just didn't like to make a fuss of things. It was in any case more efficient than what the younger boys did – which was to spend minutes on end squabbling about which bed they wanted.

_Kai's so quiet it's unreal..._Ray thought among the flurry of excitement between Max, Tyson and Daichi while unpacking as he watched the blue haired male lie back on his bed with his eyes closed. _He'll probably be better once things settle down._

Just then, there was a knock at the door that stopped the commotion for a moment to listen to who it was. "You ready boys?" Hilary called from the outside of the door. Tyson, who had not been expecting her, jumped and landed off the bed to the floor with a loud crash.

"Hilary? How d'you know where our room is?" Tyson exclaimed, not really noticing that Max and Kenny were wetting themselves with laughter at what had just happened.

"I can hear you from the end of the corridor!" Hilary was giggling uncontrollably as she listened from the other side of the door. After the boys spent the next 10 minutes sorting themselves out quickly, the team attempted to go out and find their assembly hall.

Soon the team were out in the corridor three floors below again, moving through a HUGE crowd of people bustling about frantically here and there trying to get on with a busy school day back.

"HEY HILARY!" A voice called from a distance away; the team turned round to find it belonged to a small girl with curly blond hair and huge smile. _WOW! Cute smile..._Max thought, almost completely transfixed by this beautiful young female before his eyes.

Hilary gave a huge grin and made her way towards what seemed to be one of her friends, "Rachel! You're here!" The Japanese female squealed and hugged the bubbly young girl.

"And these must be the famous Bladebreakers. Great to meet y'all!" Rachel gave another brilliant smile as she turned to greet the team and waved at them. Everyone waved back except Kai, who only seemed to acknowledge her by opening his eyes to look at her. But Rachel didn't really seem to mind.

"Are you American, Rachel?" Max asked, having listened to her accent. She definitely sounded like one, but judging by her mannerisms she seemed to have some other heritage as well.

"Yeah - well half American, half Japanese. My mom is Japanese and my dad is American; I moved round here about – oh I dunno, years ago when I was about 4. Why?" Rachel tipped her head slightly to the side cutely, like a puppy brimming with curiosity. She really was quite a sweet girl, and her girly, feminine charm seemed to be working on Max quite a treat – much to Hilary's and Kenny's amusement.

"That's cool! Because my mom's American and my dad's Japanese – so I guess we have something in common already." Max smiled, looking into Rachel's little blue eyes. The blond girl suddenly felt a slight flush on her cheeks and a few butterflies in her stomach. _Uh oh! Not good!_ She thought.

"Really? Oh wow - cool! I've never met anyone else really that has a similar background to me! And welcome to the school! Now we better get to our classes, just to say all international beyblading teams are. Including your old ones, and there's a beyblading club. Feel free to come and find help from me. Gotta go, bye!" Rachel suddenly gabbled out, grinning manically as she did and waved as she quickly walked off through all the heaving people.

"That's Rachel! She's really sweet – everyone loves her - she's also a top international beyblader!" Hilary explained as she saw the confused looks on the rest of the team's faces, before she spotted Max staring in a trance after Rachel. _Yeah, she sure is sweet... wait! What? _Max thought suddenly, mentally slapping himself for letting himself get so wrapped up with his thoughts.

"Wicked! I need a challenge, do you think she will challenge me?" Tyson looked excited at the prospect of being able to start beyblading again so very soon! "Yeah, I'm sure she will! She likes meeting new people, and she's got some sweet skills!" Hilary grinned.

"AAAHHHHHH! Quickly, we're late!" Kenny looked panicky – having looked at the time, it was nearly time for assembly: and they were nowhere near where the needed to be!

Kenny quickly directed the team to a large main hall where the whole school was being seated. Once everyone had sat down, the Headmistress - Miss Asuhara - stood up on stage to speak. "Welcome to those who have joined us this year! And welcome back to those who are continuing their education at this proud institute. As usual, rules apply to all and any questions, you know who to go to…"

As the assembly progressed, it was quite noticeable to everyone else that Tyson and Daichi were gradually falling asleep – except for the teachers. Quite a number of the students kept nudging each other to take a glance at the sleeping pair.

For Kenny and Hilary in particular, this was really quite mortifying. It was their first day at school – and the two boys just didn't seem to give a shit. Kenny was sat there cringing very badly while Hilary was sat glaring at the two.

There was only one thing for it. Hilary looked round carefully to make sure that no teachers were watching: then she kicked Tyson very hard in the shin. Completely taken by surprise, Tyson nearly leapt out of his seat and gave a small yelp, before Hilary quickly put her had to his mouth.

Tyson gave Hilary the most filthiest look. "Hilary –" He began under a whisper, before earning another kick, which shut him up momentarily for Hilary to get a word in edgewise.

"She's about to finish the assembly idiot – pay attention! Everyone's looking at us!" She hissed in his ear, pointing her finger towards a bunch of students to the side of them giggling quietly as they looked at the flushed beyblade Champion.

Tyson immediately started sulking and pouted – just great! First day of school and already the rest of his classmates had probably now seen him being publicly humiliated by his fellow teammate – the teammate being a girl, which made it even worse. But before long, Miss Asuhara finished with, "Have a good first day to all new students and good day to returning students. Thank you!" All the students and teachers began to slowly file their way out of the hall.

"She was nice." Max commented. As soon as most exited the room, there was a sudden burst of sniggers from all around them as the Bladebreakers walked past the hoards of adolescences rushing past them in some what of an effort to get to the first lessons..

Tyson and Hilary were still busy glaring at each other; Max, Ray and Kenny tried to hide their embarrassment by keeping their heads down and Daichi appeared to be enjoying the attention. Kai could feel a head ache coming and sighed heavily. _Kids..._He thought grumpily, already spotting some of the younger girls staring up at him with adoration – just what he needed to improve his mood. Not.

"Oh I'm pretty sure everyone spotted that – or at least that would be if _some_ people were paying attention." Hilary replied aggressively, still giving Tyson the best death glare she could muster. Tyson gave her one back equally as annoyed.

"Well I wasn't the one that kicked people in the -" Tyson started, before Daichi came forward and pushed the two apart – for once, he didn't try to provoke the argument and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You guys can finish your flirting after school. C'mon, we'd better get to class." Daichi yawned dramatically, earning him a double whammy glare from both Hilary and Tyson, who weren't particularly happy with him either - despite the fact that both were determined to win the argument.

"Guess we won't be seeing much of you during school this year, Daichi." Kenny mumbled nervously, still not believing what was happening here. First Tyson's late – then they get lost – and now Tyson and Daichi were completely showing themselves up in public.

"WHAT?" Daichi yelled, immediately catching the attention of every single pair of eyes in the corridor. Ray slapped his forehead, and Kai had physically and mentally bite back a very rude retort. Max, who was momentarily stunned, could not stop his mouth dropping open. _Oh boy..._

"6 - 9 years old go together for lessons; same goes for 10 - 13 years old, 14 - 18 years old and 19 onwards go to the connected University here." Kenny explained feebly, desperately trying to avoid Daichi's fiery stare.

Daichi took a moment to register what had been said, before then realising that he was now being stared at by over 100 pairs eyes who had stopped to see what the commotion was about. He loved attention – but not of this kind! "Oh man!" Daichi sighed in despair.

"C'mon! Let's go!" Tyson snapped impatiently, now tapping his foot like he hadn't got all day. Max and Kenny threw Daichi an apologetic look and started to follow the rest of the team down the opposite end of the corridor, waving to him as they walked.

"See ya later, Daichi!" Max called as he watched Daichi walk down the other end of the corridor and waved back with a small smile. The others soon found their classroom: first lesson was now Biology. By now, they all spotted some of their fellow beybladers from around the world already sitting in the classroom. Hilary was already growling as a certain aqua haired female stared back at her with a malicious smile. _Looks like Ming Ming's going to make this class very eventful with the way she's winding Hilary up already..._Ray felt himself cringe as the two females started a glaring contest.

"Ah! Are you the new students?" A young man in a dark suit, who had been previously writing something on his desk now looked up and smiled at the group. Overall he seemed quite easy going for a teacher – no problems there then.

"Yeah I guess." Hilary mumbled, avoiding his gaze. She looked across the classroom and saw that not only Ming Ming but every other girl in the room was now gazing up at the teacher with stars in their eyes. It was quite clear that this man was used to being looked at by every girl in the classroom, accepting it with only nonchalance and nothing else. _I bet he's one of those men that every girl falls for..._Hilary thought.

"Here's where you will be seated for the moment in my classroom until I arrange a proper seating plan, and to introduce myself, I am Mr Young." He handed out what looked like to be the temporary seating arrangements in a quick, untidy scrawl. Which were listed as so:

_Front Tables:__  
1 - Emily and Kenny_  
_2 - Brooklyn and Mathilda  
3 - Ozuma and Mariam  
4 - Mariah and Kevin  
5 – Chelsea and Jenny_

_Middle Tables:__  
1 - Tyson and Hilary  
2 - Max and Ray  
3 – Aoi and Natsuki  
4 - Johnny and Oliver  
5 - Garland and Ming Ming_

_Back Tables:__  
1 – Penelope and Sunny  
2 - King and Queen  
3 -Zeoh and Cain  
4 – Natasha and Mystel  
_5 - Kai

Ray and Max gave each other a sideways glance – this seating plan was slightly odd. A lot of the people in the room sat together seemed to get on only a little _too _well…almost as if Mr Young was watching to see what happened.

Before long, everyone quickly took their seating arrangements. Kai, for the first time today, was very pleased! He was on his own for once in a blue moon – _At last, a bit of peace and quiet..._He thought with a sigh as Mr Young took the register and carried on with the lesson, starting to write some stiff on the board.

As Kai swept his amethyst gaze over what was being written, he smirked as completely understood what was being done and hmphed quietly. _This is going to be a piece of cake…_

* * *

_**Piscesgirl09/xXxCometxXx:** Hey, hey peeps! New and improved chapter for you all - hopefully with a more imaginative title than before...! Please keep on reading and feedback is always appreciated as ever =) Cheers!_


	4. Whisper

_**The following said story 'Love is like Fire...' is strictly property of Piscesgirl09©.**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check, Callum Fennel, Elizabeth Moonshine and Thomas Moonshine belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters.  
**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check, Callum Fennel, Elizabeth Mooonshine and Thomas Moonshine's auto biographies exclusively belong to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters auto biographies.  
**_

_**The storyline of the story 'Love is like Fire…' belongs exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of this very storyline.  
The ideas put forward to the creation of 'Love is like Fire…' belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very ideas. **_

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* * *

After school, the Bladebreakers were hanging around the park. The boys were practicing their beyblading skills again, while Kenny and Hilary were analysing them. Kai and Tyson were not battling at that current moment and had currently decided to take a break to watch how their team was progressing - although the navy haired teen had practically begged to referee Max and Ray's match. The bluenette on the other hand had taken himself to the side-lines and was now relaxing on the grass, enjoying the September breeze that flew silently across the grass as the colours of emerald, green and yellow rippled along the ground.

"Go Draciel!" The blond male yelled at his blade, sending it hurtling towards the Chinese male's at almost full pelt. Both he and his opponent eyes were sparkling with anticipation, completely absorbed in the one sport that they loved – the IT whiz of the group watched quietly in awe as he recorded the data on his laptop, feeling once again proud of how his mechanical knowledge had paid off, clearly shown in the two Bladebreakers vastly improved movements so far. Now all they had to do was keep up the practice for the next tournament…

"Go Drigger!" The golden eyed male commanded in response, sending his blade to also head in for the attack, equally as powerful as his opponents but certainly faster, considering that his blade had always been built for speed. The American boy changed his stance to a defensive position as he waited for the blow, reverting to his usual blading style. As the two blades clashed head on, every single member could feel the energy emitted by both blades.

"How's the stats so far Chief?" The Japanese Bladebreaker asked as he made his way to look over Kenny's shoulder at the laptop recording the ever growing results as the match continued to go on - he looked upon every single member of the team and sighed contently. No matter what they had all been through, they were still here and battling strong together; he even looked over at the amethyst eyed teen, whose eyes were shut tight, and smiled.

Despite the fact that they were still fundamentally different in character, the brown eyed male and the Russian knew that deep down they were friends. Even though it was more on the elder of the two's part that would never admit it, they had a great respect for each other: that to both of them their bond of friendship was valuable and either knew that if they needed each other at the right place at the right time – they could count on each other.

But putting the thoughtfulness aside, the Dragon blader's more conscious thought was that his stoic team mate could still do with not acting like a grouch for once! Yet the thought of the Phoenix blader being cheerful like himself and Max was actually quite scary – he'd only ever seen him smile very rarely in the time they had been team mates, and each one had been completely genuine. So asking the stoic male to smile when he didn't feel like it was perhaps asking for too much: after all, why try to change someone if they don't want to?

Shrugging, the young Granger turned back to the small brown haired boy sat down below him. "Well as ever, Max's defence is improving and so is Ray's speed. I think we still need to try to get everyone to work on mastering all sorts of techniques and strategies; for example Max should try more offensive tactics and Ray should try to work on more defensive tactics." Kenny explained as he pointed to the screen, his head moving to look over the laptop at the two competitors still thrashing at each other in the dish.

"TYSON! Where's my sandwich, you pig? I was gonna eat that!" A small redheaded boy suddenly screeched at the navy haired teen, face going puce with anger as he rammed the empty lunchbox into his team mate's face. Good mood suddenly disappearing, Tyson gave an irritated cry as he tried to push Daichi away from whilst avoided arms waving around manically.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PIG?! YOU HAD YOUR SANDWICH EARLIER!"

Hilary gave a heavy sigh and muttered something along the lines of 'Here we go again…' as the two loudest members of the group began to bicker over food – always the topic of conflict when it came to these two always hungry boys.

Everyone however was unaware that a girl was at the park as well, seated on the grass behind them quietly. She wore a torn grey strapless dress that exposed her leg up to the knee, white shoes that were worn with age and a mask that made her pale face look like it had some colour to it. Her torn black cloak was underneath her and her loose hair was sailing on the wind as she tilted her head back to watch the clouds shift in shape as they flew across the sky.

She was thinking, as well as listening and watching the Bladebreakers in the background – her head felt like it was floating to another world which seemed to forget any kind of logic or reason. She had no idea why she came here, nor did she care. It was a rare pleasure to be sat, invisible, with a completely empty head that would bear no weight on her conscience. She then brought her head back down to give her full attention back to the scene in front of her – being a beyblader herself, she couldn't help but admire the amount of hard work that everyone seemed to be putting in. And it was becoming increasingly clear why this team really had something special to offer to the beyblade world.

Her eyes strayed to the two males battling in the dish: both seemed to be more stable in their character, a reassuring balance that calmed the extremities of personality between their other two original team mates. Then there was the youngest of the group – the dynamite with red hair, who whilst he had potential, may seem to be sometimes unfairly ignored and possibly unappreciated because of his age and the immaturity that came with it, as well as that explosive temper. The same could be said for the girl and the young one with glasses; both were exceptional in their organisation of the team and provided so much more than spare beyblade parts – yet they were definitely more recognised in that ability.

There was also the leader of the group, the legendary wielder of the Japanese dragon: powerful, yet not at as complete in his ability as his team mates. And finally there was the dubbed loner of the group – the silent but deadly bluenette, a constant feeding power into the group who was admirable in his discipline – yet his plights in failing to beat his team mate made him a shadow of unfulfilled strength waiting to be awakened.

Of course, the watching female had noticed Kai's deliberate separation from the group; to any logical brain, it did seem quite odd that by now Kai still didn't seem to want to join with the group as much. But then to someone like her, she did not find this behaviour unusual. She was indeed slightly curious - but then she didn't understand why she really cared that much about such a small detail. Although she couldn't shake the feeling that maybe she knew the Russian more than she remembered. _An enigma…_She thought.

From a distance a loud cry of an animal from the sky alerted everyone. "What was that?" Max suddenly jumped violently as the sudden noise hit his ears, everyone else following suit. The amethyst eyed teen remained perfectly composed as he slowly opened his eyes along with everyone else, searching the sky to find the where the cry came from. He then spotted a beautiful black and golden feathered eagle flying towards them – closing his eyes once more, he carelessly pointed up in the direction the creature was flying in.

"Up there." He stated in a monotone, not really bothered that it had been quite alarming to the others. In fact, he took a moment to admire how the magnificent creature sailed effortlessly across the air; it reminded him vaguely of Dranzer - the way his wings would stretch proudly as they would float almost silently against the breeze. All of the team watched in awe as the eagle flew down behind them – then they spotted the grey dressed girl now standing to wait for the bird to perch on her arm.

"HOLY COW! Where'd she come from?" Tyson nearly jumped out of his skin in just as much surprise as the others. When in hell had she appeared from? And how had she managed to remain so silent for all this time? Particularly as trouble over the past nearly 4 years often had a habit of finding them in some way or another. But as a couple of the members looked at her a bit more closely, they suddenly began to realise who they were dealing with.

The girl didn't respond at all to the noticeable surprised looks upon everyone's faces. She was too busy stroking her faithful and rather affectionate pet, running her eyes gently over the bright colours of the feathers glinting under the afternoon sun. For a moment, she then looked up to meet their eyes from the distance: the Bladebreakers for a moment were held in place by the intensity of her gaze – she didn't have to say anything to catch their attention. She had them right where she wanted them.

Smirking slightly, the girl merely turned and started to walk away, her cloak trailing softly behind her on the breeze. The Champion team had no idea what to say or do – after all, this young female was clearly new to town; otherwise why hadn't they seen her before? But that was before the Chief suddenly spoke up. "The Eagle Eye."

Everyone else snapped their heads to look at him sharply, the name bringing tension to the atmosphere. "Who's the Eagle Eye?" Kai asked seriously, his eyebrows furrowing together with slight confusion as he watched a couple of faces go slightly pale. As far as he knew, he didn't understand what the fuss was about – so what? A strange girl turns up looking battered in ripped up clothes? He hardly considered that something get worried about. But judging by some of the looks on his team mate's faces, he knew he was missing something.

"The Eagle Eye is a mystery blader who often turns up on the streets around the world when trouble arises in the beyblading world. She often appears during the day, armed with a beyblade... one of my friends back in the USA, a couple of years before I even met you guys, came across her – he came back home later looking as though he'd been hit by a truck, and his beyblade smashed to pieces beyond repair." The blue eyed male spoke up uncomfortably, remembering how bitterly upset his friend was at having lost to someone who didn't even have an identity.

"But what's so special about her? She's just another rogue blader." Tyson piped up irritably, clearly not quite understanding the significance of the Eagle Eye's appearance – if one thing he and his bluenette team mate did share in common, it was that sometimes they could be very fixed in their views on the type of blader they wanted only – but that was as far as that similarity went. The Japanese male was more decided on how people looked whereas the Russian often made his choices by having observed the character of the person and their calibre first.

"She's not just a rogue blader, Tyson. She's very powerful – and the frightening thing is that no one knows anything of her identity, and there are no stats available on her at all. The only details people have on her are what she looks like and how she appears – believe me, Tyson! She's not one to battle without being careful – she hasn't hesitated before and she will quite happily destroy you if you get on her bad side." Kenny stated quietly, the gravity of his tone showing that he was anything but joking.

The navy haired teen sighed in exasperation as he threw his arms around. "C'mon guys! You can't tell me you're all afraid of just one girl? It's not she's the only blader around who is powerful enough – we're the champions, for crying out loud!" Although trying to encourage the group, it only resulted in the Chinese male to turn to him with an equally serious look on his face whilst the rest looked completely uncertain.

"You might not be nervous, Tyson – but the fact there's at least one other blader in this world who is quite like her is all the more frightening. Let's not forget the Lone Cat – she can be a right piece of work herself, that one." Ray pointed out calmly, yet there was an underlying tone to his voice that suggested his statement wasn't just based on rumour. The IT whiz of the group turned to the golden eyed male looking slightly surprised, thinking that he may have been the only other person who knew of the other mentioned blader.

"You've heard of her?"

"More than that – she was sighted near my village once, and one of the kids decided he wanted to challenge her – hours afterwards, he was found battered along with his beyblade. And this was also a couple of years before we ever formed as a team. I tried to do some background research on her, but the only information I could get was that someone had once followed her to a deserted warehouse – but then when they got there, they could only find a young girl there. No trace whatsoever."

The Dragon blader looked completely stunned, and secretly the Phoenix blader was thinking the same way. Who were these bladers? As much as there weren't many people who fazed him, he certainly wasn't liking the sound of these girls – although they didn't seem to regularly terrorize people, there was clearly something in the way they beybladed that frightened people. "Let's just say that if you spot them within close range, it's not often a good sign." The Turtle blader murmured softly, looking uncomfortable with the thought.

Daichi looked slightly confused as he brought a finger to his chin in thought. "So what should we do now? What if she turns up again?" He asked, putting his cockiness aside for once to make a mature suggestion, although even he wasn't that young and stupid not to recognise that bladers like the Eagle Eye and the Lone Cat weren't ones to be taken as a joke – after all, why was one of them here now, watching them through the slits of a mask that hid her true face from society? No one could really blame the team for now starting to get suspicious.

Hilary's face looked slightly worried as she watched the boys stare at the ground with troubled expressions, trying to think of sensible solution that might put their minds at rest. "Maybe we should tell Mr Dickenson...at least if he knows and we then have a run in with either of these beybladers, we've got someone to help us?" She put in quietly, her red-brown eyes looking up as did the rest of the Bladebreakers. It didn't take them long to make up their minds.

* * *

"Why, Bladebreakers – how lovely to see you all! How are you enjoying school?" The BBA chairman exclaimed as the teens entered his office, genuinely delighted to see them as he gave them all a bright smile. Most of the group returned the gesture with a smile and a nod of acknowledgement as they all took their seats – Kai resumed to his usual position of standing up against any available wall.

"It's good thank you, Mr D! Um, we just wanted to talk to you about something..." Max replied cheerfully, though his voice tailed off uncertainly as he looked to his team mates to help him out –it wasn't often they came to Mr Dickenson with a worry about a mysterious blader who didn't even seem to be registered as an official blader. _But then he must have heard the rumours,_ The blond thought to himself, _After all, it's not like the sightings of the Eagle Eye and the Lone Cat have ever really been positive…particularly as they seem to be quite powerful bladers…_

"By all means! What is it you want to ask? If it's about another tournament, I can assure you I am making arrangements for another one as we speak!" The grey haired man chuckled, knowing full well that the Bladebreakers and any of their other friends made full contributions to every tournament they participated – there was never a lack of enthusiasm and the support they gave each other as friends and fellow rivals was quite a marvel for him to see – particularly as he was getting to an age when retirement was a very likely possibility in the near future…

"That's great to hear, Mr D! But there's something else we wanted to talk to you about." Ray said with a smile, the rest of the team nodding in agreement.

The BBA chairman was mildly surprised to say the least – it wasn't often they came to him with any other questions not regarding a new tournament – but nevertheless, he responded all the same. "Oh? Then fire away, my boy! What is it?"

Kenny took a deep breath as he prepared to broach the subject. "Have you ever heard of the Eagle Eye or the Lone Cat?" He finally asked. There was a long silence as the question hung in the air – Mr Dickenson to say the least just didn't quite know how to answer the Bladebreaker's curiosity. Of course, he knew who these two bladers were; he had in fact met them before! But there were very good reasons why he had kept his knowledge of them under wraps: so how was he going to wriggle his way out of telling them without being dishonest?

"You could say that. Have you met them before?" The elder man replied cautiously, wiping his forehead with his handkerchief. Kai immediately spotted the change in atmosphere, the way the man's manner had changed subtly – he could tell that the aging male knew something about these two bladers. The pause to some extent had given enough of an indication, yet there was something else in the atmosphere…a nagging feeling that he knew more than he was letting on.

"Well, not exactly. Max and I have had friends or neighbours who have encountered them before…neither experiences were pleasant. And now at the park when we were training, the Eagle Eye was there – I think she must have been sat watching us for a while." The Chinese blader confessed, looking uncomfortable with the prospect of even thinking about the mystery bladers – needless to say, the BBA chairman was already getting a sense that the presence of at least one of them within several metres away was enough to make them worry. And in fairness to them, he couldn't blame them.

The media hype that came out when the blader's first made their strike had not gone unnoticed by him by any means – but as much as he knew that the two were feared by many, he also knew that they never openly made trouble; they accepted challenges like every other blader did, and it was only unfortunate for some of the youngsters the they weren't prepared to spare them a bit of understanding for their immaturity when trying to tackle them, completely unaware that they were at risk of being beaten quite severely. Sighing, Mr Dickenson sat down behind his desk and put his arms gently on the wood as he looked at the team.

"Did she do anything else other than that?" He inquired further, hoping that the next answer would help him with his next decision – of course, if the Bladebreakers were worried about the possibility of encountering either of these beybladers, then he could almost guarantee that they would want him to investigate further. Which would mean that it could seriously complicate the matter...

"No – she just stood there staring at us after letting her pet eagle land on her arm – about the only thing she managed to do was give us a smirk before walking off! Who knows what she was up to…" Tyson huffed irritably, though he was secretly annoyed that he hadn't been able to challenge her to a beybattle – by the sounds of what his friends had been saying, she sounded like a tough opponent and his eyes, any new challenge was always welcome. Yet he didn't voice it, knowing that if he did, the rest of his team mates would probably think he was mad.

The BBA chairman looked thoughtful as he sat back in his chair, locking his fingers together as he stared past the group of teenagers to the dark corner in his office. "Very well. Keep me informed of the Eagle Eye and the Lone Cat's whereabouts if you spot them again, and I will deal with it in the meantime. If they do anything to harm you or anyone else, you must let me know immediately." He finally concluded, hoping very profusely that the team would buy into it and give him more time to sort things out without them even suspecting the secret. Seeming to fall for it, the boys and Hilary nodded and gave their thanks as they all got up to leave the office. The Russian pushed himself silently off the wall, not before sparing one last glance at the old man sat behind the desk, who was now trying to busy himself with paperwork.

The bluenette frowned as he headed towards the door: to him, it was plainly obvious that Mr Dickenson knew far more than he dared to let on – but he was determined to find out one way or another. _**Looks like it's time to do a bit of hunting Dranzer…**_He thought internally, feeling his bitbeast send a surge of fire through his beyblade where it was sat warming the trouser pocket. _**Indeed young one…but have care. These bladers do not have a reputation for nothing - I can feel their power…and it's drawing closer than you think…**_

Once the door to his office was shut, the elder man quickly picked up his phone and dialled a number, closing his eyes in slight distress as he waited for the receiver over the other end to pick up. After a few moments there was a click and the sound of movement as breathing could be heard. "Mr Dickenson." A voice spoke, the tone clipped and neutral as it politely addressed the caller. The BBA chairman paused before gripping the phone slightly, making sure that no one was listening in to the conversation about to ensue.

"I should warn you that you have not only been spotted, but there have been some questions asked as well." He said in a hushed tone, his eyes constantly flicking from one place to another as he moved towards the window overlooking Bakuten, where he could see the Bladebreakers now walking back towards town. There was more shuffling down the phone as the person sighed heavily. "I know." The voice asked shortly, getting straight down to business.

"The Bladebreakers came to see me just now - I have advised them to let me know if you are spotted again."

"And you did not give anything away?"

"Absolutely not."

"Very well. I'll be sure to keep an eye out – don't do anything further. I will deal with them if need be."

The BBA chairman didn't look remotely happy with that idea, but judging by the finality in the speaker's tone of voice, they weren't really giving him a choice. And he had to suppose that in the end, it would be better that they dealt with it: at least then, there wasn't the risk that the World Champions would ever find out who truly lay beneath the masks of the Eagle Eye and the Lone Cat. "Of course. Though I do advise you to be more cautious – you and I both know that the Bladebreakers are a very curious team, even at the best of times – and rest assured they will be preparing themselves, should any other run ins occur. You can't risk them finding out." He stated flatly. There was a chink of metal in the background down the receiver.

"They won't. I shall speak to you in due course – in the mean time, keep me informed. As you may also suspect, this won't be the first and last time. Good day to you, sir." And with that, all that could now be heard down the receiver was the dial tone. Mr Dickenson sighed heavily as he placed the phone back in its cradle, before turning back to the window to watch the sunset in the distance.

* * *

Later that evening, the young Hiwatari was out walking under the moonlight, brooding heavily over the discovery of two potentially dangerous bladers. He had done some more research on the internet, and could only find snippets of information, none of them really giving any clue as to the identity of the two or their purpose for their appearances. As far as he could find out, the very first sighting was made over 5 years ago: of course, no one would have thought much of it at the time. But as time as gone on, it would appear that the interaction the Lone Cat and the Eagle Eye made with other bladers was very irregular, fluctuating from frequent to virtually not at all.

Yet the most intriguing bit of research that he found was that there wasn't just two mystery bladers – there was also a third; another girl, although even less heard of than the others: her name was the Moonlight blader – a lonesome girl who roamed quietly amongst the shadows…until she struck those who challenged her with a beyblade. As far as photographic and written evidence went by, she was the most powerful out of the unknown trio. One particular photo he remembered looking at was one of her stood on a rock near the sea, hair loose with a blue mask covering her face, and clad only in 3 quarter length jeans with a tank top.

What had struck him about the photo was how solitary she looked as a person, whilst her stance commanded such an allure that even he found himself reluctant to drag his gaze away. He couldn't put a finger on it: these 3 girls somehow appeared to be connected in some way – each time one appeared, so did at least one other. In some rare cases, all 3 had been sighted within less than a week in the same location. In some ways, he could see why this was worrying for so many bladers. The damage they dealt in the beyblade matches was almost inexplicable, and none of them were ever around long enough for people to understand why.

Silently, the Phoenix blader kept walking as he kept within his thoughts, trying to work through the puzzle of information that surrounded the bladers. Behind him, a dark figure jumped down onto a tree, watching carefully as he walked past. The figure smirked as they crouched stealthily along the tree branch, balancing effortlessly on the balls of their feet. _So this is one of the Bladebreakers…and of course, all alone...perhaps I should give him a little company…_Before long, they moved swiftly to another tree out of sight, remaining hidden in the shadows.

The amethyst eyed teen felt himself twitch as he sensed a change in atmosphere. Someone was following him – he could feel it in the air – what to do? Turn round and look for the predator? Or wait until it decides to show its face? Deciding to choose the latter, he carried on walking briskly, but changing direction slightly to go towards the abandoned warehouses he often visited when he wanted to train alone. As he entered the building, the presence had gone. His eyebrow twitched slightly – was he now going mad? He _knew_ that someone had been behind him!

Suddenly out of nowhere, he was then pushed violently from the doorway to the floor. Kai immediately jumped up and turned to see a small female dressed all in black crouched behind him on a crate, smirking at his shocked face. "What do you want?" He snarled at the girl, watching as she slowly sat back on her heels in a way that resembled a cat. Her eyes gleamed from behind the dark mask she wore as her lips remained set in a tantalizing curve that it was becoming all too clear how she chose her opponents: there was something about her demeanour that was tempting, almost flirtatious. As if she invited a challenge without having to ask for it.

Extending her legs gracefully so that she stepped fluidly off her perch, the feline-like girl stood in a pose that was sleek against the moonlight as she gave a soft laugh. "Now why would you want to know what I want? After all when it comes to the infamous Kai Hiwatari, since when does he think about anything other than what he wants?" She said coyly, starting move in a circle around him, her pace deliberately slow – as though she were waiting to pounce. Of course, the Russian had already worked out who this new figure was: she had to be the Lone Cat..

"Don't play games with me – if it's a beybattle you want, then why do you need to sneak up on me? Or is how you usually challenge your opponents?" The bluenette growled, turning to face the darkly dressed female as she came to a stop behind him. And yet she merely closed her eyes and let out another chuckle, before looking back at her challenger with a stare that was bordering on patronizing.

"Hm – I suppose I should be mildly surprised that you even know who I am. And who says I give out the challenges? I'm not the one that's _eager_...most of the time." There was a pause as the eyes behind the mask flicked up and down the amethyst eyed teen's body without fear, watching intently as he stared back at her with those fiery eyes. "But then that would pose the question: to whom would such a challenge benefit?"

Again, the young Hiwatari could himself boiling with irritation as she once again evaded his answer. Call it cliché, but it felt like they were playing a cat tossing around a ball of wool – and much to his frustration, he was feeling rather more like the wool than the animal at the moment. However he felt, he squashed it down and decided to play the girl at her own game, switching on one of his own smirks that had many girls squirm under his gaze. "If you know who I am, then I don't really need to tell you how it would benefit me now, do I?" He changed tack quickly, shifting from the defensive to something more casual as he folded his muscled arms across his chest. Daring her to respond.

The Lone Cat looked upon the stoic young male in front of her – no one had ever had the courage to talk back to her that way; if anything, by the time she had said a few sentences, they were as mute as mice. _And what easy prey those were..._She thought with amusement, the smirk on her face only growing wider as she continued to look her challenger directly in the eye. "Oh I know - that could be easily arranged...but certainly not by me." She replied teasingly, suddenly jumping onto the wall behind her to climb up.

Not quite believing what he had heard, the Phoenix blader looked up in amazement as the feline-like girl moved so effortlessly around the building. "Though if you do happen to come looking for me...perhaps I might reconsider. Somehow, though, I don't see that happening for a while...watch your back." He heard her call from above, catching one last glimpse at her mischievous face before she disappeared into the darkness.

The warehouse was silent as Kai stood alone once again. He couldn't quite believe what had just happened: he had just met one of the mystery trio of bladers – and yet she didn't accept an offer to beybattle. But then he wasn't sure why he was looking out for them in the first place. He had caught a glimpse of a beyblade pouch and a launcher hidden not so subtly in the blader's clothing, and for a moment he had been curious to see the extent of her power.

However what the Russian was quickly learning, like many others before him, was that the blader's were free spirits. They came when and where they pleased. They were not governed by what people thought of them. They came and went as quickly as they appeared – like a whisper.

* * *

_**Piscesgirl09/xXxCometxXx:** Phew! Finally - I've managed to re-do this chapter, and I'm rather hoping this clears up any confusion as to who these extra characters are. Thanks again to everyone for all your support; please review - feedback is welcome, as ever! Hope you all enjoy this new one =) Cheers!_


	5. A New Teammate

"Not bad for a first 2 weeks is it?" Hilary remarked as she sat comfortably on one of the beds, her uniform now slightly messed up and disheveled. It was after school and everyone was winding down slowly. The others nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, but some of the teachers and students are very annoying." Ray mumbled, getting _some_ of what was bothering him off his chest. For competitive guys like the Bladebreakers, having young good looking teachers around stealing the attention was the last thing they wanted.

_Particularly Mr. Young__… he's a show off and flirts with every girl he gets a chance with, not to mention Mariah..._Ray thought frustrated. Tyson grinned cheekily, "Those fan girls can't get enough of us, though it's not a bad thing you get tired of it after a while" He said while lying back on his bed in the boy's room,

"Oh Tyson..." Max sighed (anime sweat drop) heavily, trying not to smile. Typical Tyson. _All that attention has really gone to his head,_Max thought. But that was why everyone liked Tyson – he basked in their attention and that made him very good natured in general, and was fun to be around. Slightly irritating at times though, of course.

"What? It's true!" Daichi looked at Max's facial expression and then looked slightly confused himself – he didn't really have any trouble with people's attention either. He was just more annoying about it.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! Hilary's mobile went off suddenly – making a Tyson and Daichi yelp. Max and Ray sniggered while Kai rolled his eyes dramatically. Hilary looked through her bag to find her phone.

As she pulled her mobile out of her bag and glanced at it, she looked surprised and then quickly she answered it. "Oh hello... yeah... ok we'll be there soon!" Hilary said pleasantly and then hung up.

"Who was that, Hil?" Ray asked, everyone's attention now turned to the only female of the group. Hilary smiled and put her phone back in her bag safely where it belongs.

"Mr. D. He wants us to come to the BBA HQ if we can make it" Hilary replied, getting off the bed to put her shoes on and quickly tidy herself up while she was at it. _I wonder what Mr. D. wants with us during a school year? _Ray thought.

"Ok then, let's go!" Kenny said cheerfully, also getting off his bed to grab his things. Soon he and the rest of the group were up and left for the BBA HQ. They soon reached it and went inside to sign in.

* * *

As they made their way up the stairs, they passed some photos of them during their last three tournaments. During those times, Kai admitted to himself, they had been quite fun and if he dare say so himself he quite missed the buzz of the arena. Not that he would ever say that to his teammates.

"Ah hello, Bladebreakers! Good to see you!" Mr. Dickenson greeted them warmly.

"Hey Mr. D! What's up?" Tyson asked.

"You don't mind a new teammate, do you?" Mr. Dickenson inquired.

"Sure! There's always room for another team member" Kenny agreed smiling, Mr. Dickenson smiled back.

"I'm sure you'll like this new blader…she's very strong indeed, and I'm sure you'll find her rather – determined." Mr. Dickenson finished somewhat uncertainly, as though this new blader was not particularly easy to describe by nature.

He led them to a room where a girl was sat on a chair waiting for them. She was about 16 and seemed to possess a strong physical presence whenever she commanded an entrance in a room. She wore a tailored shirt untucked with the sleeves rolled up and top button undone and the Bladebreakers School's colours tie short.

She wore black trousers tucked into heeled boots; she also wore blue fingerless gloves with a winged unicorn on each one. But the first thing everyone noticed (particularly Kai) was her eyes – a startling deep blue that penetrated everyone in sight. _Do I know this girl?_Kai thought curiously.

"Bladebreakers, allow me to introduce your new teammate; Annastacia Moonshine, preferably known as Anna." Mr. Dickenson announced. Everyone gave each other a swift look as they felt the girl's eyes scan them, as though she was taking a measure of what they were about – purely by their physical features.

Yet somehow, they all felt as though they knew her from somewhere before. None of them could place who she was. But even so, Tyson and Daichi sniggered. "A girl? This I gotta see!" Tyson giggled.

"Yeah! Next thing she'll do is take command of the whole team!" Daichi clutched his sides laughing. The two stopped very quickly when Anna's eyes burned them with her death glare – which was very impressive next to Kai's – some of them might even dare to think that hers was worse!

By now, most of the team started to feel intimidated by this formidable young woman. Except Kai as ever, who was looking rather impartial about what was going on. _Jeez, she's tough. I think I just made a big mistake__**, **_Tyson thought nervously. "Be quiet you two! Ignore those two, I'm Ray" Ray smiled and went forward, arm stretched. Anna looked at his hand a few moments, then got up slowly and shook his hand with a good grip.

"Wow. Nice firm hand you got there Anna." Ray smiled at her. Anna again said nothing and stood back with her arms crossed. It was becoming obvious that she was rather introverted, which in comparison was very similar to how Kai was when he first met the Bladebreakers.

"Hi, I'm Max. Hope you like blading with the champs, cos' we'll be there with all the tips you need!" Max winked cheekily at her and stretched out his arm. Anna raised an eyebrow – although male attention was flattering at times, this kind tended to make her want to laugh. But even so she kept a straight face and shook his hand.

"Hi, I'm Hilary. I'll support you all the way" Anna smiled a small smile and shook hands.

"I'm Daichi, the best around!" Daichi boasted. _Crikey, he's a little character alright... but he's got such bad manners,_Anna thought smiling a little in her head. However, Anna shook hands almost too quickly when it came to introductions between the two.

"Sorry about first impressions. I'm Tyson" Tyson said meekly. _Blimey, Tyson managing to give a genuine apology for once - wish he would do that more often!_Anna smirked in her head. She nodded and shook hands.

"Hi, I'm Kenny, just call me 'Chief' and anything you want to know about beyblades and how they work, any parts - just come to me!" Kenny looked proud of himself to Anna's surprise looking at the meek boy's stature, but shook his hand anyhow.

"And this wonderful guy is Kai. You guys should be good mates" Tyson put his hand on Kai's shoulder. _He seems familiar..._Anna thought as she looked at Kai. Tyson took his hand off Kai quickly when he received a death glare from him. Ray sighed.

"That's our Kai" Ray said, Kai ignored him and outstretched his arm to the Bladebreakers surprise. Kai wasn't one to be spontaneous with his greetings - but he immediately had respect for Anna. A rare occasion where Kai possibly met his match. When Anna shook his hand, both of them felt a fire surge like electricity through them. The two let go and gave each other a look no one could decipher. _What's going on? These two are acting like they've seen each other before, _Ray thought confused.

"So how long have you been blading Anna?" Max asked as everyone found somewhere to sit after Mr. Dickenson went out of the room.

"For 13 years" She replied in a surprisingly strong voice - one that no one would ever ignore - because it was very dominant and authoritive by nature, as well as rather mesmerizing for people who listened to her. Often when she sang, it's like everyone's watching her in a trance: as though there was hardly world enough for her to fit in, and hardly a world without her.

"Wow! You're as experienced as Kai! I believe he also started when he was your age." Ray gave Anna a cat-like grin.

"…Right…" Anna nodded slowly, not really looking convinced so far about people's ages so far. To say the least, Anna thought that maturity often spoke for itself – even if people were meant to be older than they acted at times.

"Kai will be 17 on the 9th November this year." Max added.

"I'm already 16 – May 5th this year." Tyson stated proudly.

"16 on September 20th just gone." Hilary said with a huge smile, recalling her recent birthday party. Most of the people invited had loads of fun, and the Bladebreaker's had made it quite special for her. Well, maybe not Kai - who had a reasonable amount of respect for Hilary - possibly even a slight friendship. But nothing more.

"I'll be 16 on October 8th." Ray said thoughtfully, not really seeming to believe how old he was getting.

"And mine's on June 15th – so getting towards sweet 16 next year!" Max gave a huge smile, looking rather excited at the prospect of getting that old. Anna had to resist giving a dramatic eye roll – it would only be matter of time before they would be whining about how being grown up sucked. No surprises there.

"Hn, I'm February 28th next year" Anna mumbled, trying to get them to shut up for at least five seconds. Kai suddenly looked alert even though he had been listening to everything that was said – willingly at that too.

"What time were you born?" Kai asked curiously, looking directly at Anna. She was one of the few people Kai addressed with proper eye contact, knowing that they wouldn't squirm under his gaze.

Usually Kai was content to shut his eyes and only reply when he felt like he wanted to answer a question or something of that nature interested him. Everyone in the room however looked quite surprised at Kai's sudden interest - except Anna, who just looked straight back at him with a level gaze.

"Midnight." She muttered, but loud enough for everyone to hear. Not that she thought that Kai's question was of any relevance; unless he took an interest in the zodiac – but somehow Anna felt that the likelihood of that would be rather slim indeed.

But she didn't judge him on that – as far as she was concerned, she didn't know him very well: therefore she didn't feel like she had to pass any kind of guess as to what Kai might be interested in. She knew she would probably find that out in time as she spent more time with the team.

But somehow, Anna couldn't shake this nagging feeling inside her that she should know more about him – that she somewhere knew what was bound to make Kai want to engage in conversation or even just to listen. _But how… _Anna thought.

Kai himself felt surprised as he carefully observed this young female in front of him felt surprised. _This girl is something else...she looks full of youth and life; I thought she would be a happy and sociable girl like the rest. But instead she's feisty; cold; mysterious and an outcast. A very strong character, granted. But she's so different... and so familiar..._Kai thought with frustration - trying to work out where he might possibly have recognized Anna from.

"Anna?" Mr. Dickenson entered the room looking quite... pleased? Anna could only quirk an eyebrow. But nevertheless, she respected the old man and over the past couple of years he had shown her a kindness and an understanding that she grudgingly accepted – despite her resolve never to allow to 'pity' her.

"Yes sir?" Anna answered politely but dully. By now the conversation she had been having with the Bladebreaker's had seemed to render her to boredom – or so she put across. Underneath the attitude, she had been amused and interested in the Bladebreaker's attempts to be a friendly and open team to her.

"There's someone I think you should see - and yes, you will have to trust me on this one. Trust me, you will not regret it." Mr. Dickenson raised his hand to silence Anna as she opened her mouth to protest. Reluctantly Anna got up and followed Mr. Dickenson out, using her usual tomboy swagger that you would never find on your average girl who seemed to totter about on imaginary heels.

As Anna reached the outside the door, she gradually mustered herself to open her eyes properly to greet whoever it was that she was about to greet. That's when she stopped and stared...

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**_Piscesgirl09:_**_ Thanks for reading :)_


	6. Family Reunion

"What's the matter?" Daichi asked, clearly wondering with the other's why the hell Anna was just stood in the hall way, frozen. As they all moved to look past the doorway, they all saw what seemed to be subject of what appeared to be shock for Anna.

There standing paces away from the room was a woman who looked similar next to Anna. Her features were slightly softer and more defined in beauty, but still bore a profound strength with a warmer and more open face. Although she appeared to have spotted everyone else staring at her from the doorway, her attention was mainly fixed on.

"It's been too long hasn't it?" The woman spoke with a kind voice, looking at Anna with her bright green eyes. Kai's head suddenly snapped up - as though something inside him recognized her voice. _**What's the matter with me? **_Kai thought. Anna was lost for words. She knew exactly who this woman was - it was her mother. The person who she had been missing in her life for little over 11 years.

"Anna...don't you recognize me?" The woman for a moment looked sad, as a tear run down her face. She had been longing to see her daughter; see how much her little girl had grown up. And how the years had flown! For all that Anna looked a lot like her father, she had her mother's charm and trademark fiery hair. Although this was good to see, it was all too clear to the woman that Anna had grown up far too quickly.

"Mum...of course I recognize you." Anna replied quietly, almost choking on her words as she tried to regain some of her composure. Although she knew deep down she was only human, she wouldn't dare allow other's to think that she was a soft touch. She wasn't. But at times in her life, there has been the odd thing or person who has tweaked a heart string - maybe even brought a tear to her eye. And it was those moments that she felt at her loneliest: because it reminded her that there were so few in her life who would ever understand why.

An awkward silence filled the room. Normally with most families when they hadn't seen each other for so long would be running - bounding over to see each other and catch up on what life they have missed. Yet Anna nor her mother seemed to be able to conjure up the words to express themselves. "May I...may I see you a little closer? I want to see how much you've grown." Anna's mother asked hesitantly, changing her footing slightly.

Anna started to walk forward to where her mother was standing. As she stepped right in front of her mother, she held her breath. She remembered her mother reasonably well - but never in this much detail. The creamy skin, full lips and stunning eyes - and for a moment Anna felt a rush of envy. Her mother raised her hands and gently used them to lift her daughter's face up to look her in the eyes, her own starting to brim with emotion.

"You've...you've changed so Anna. Taller, stronger...and so pretty too." She murmured, tears starting to escape her eyes. Anna's heart sped up and too felt a lump rise in her throat as she struggled to put into words what she was feeling for the one person she had missed out on so much in her life. As her mother slowly opened her arms to her, Anna almost fell into them. Her head falling softly onto a shoulder as she closed her eyes and lost herself in the embrace.

Meanwhile in the background, the Bladebreakers shifted uncomfortably as their eyes shifted from one person to the other. Mr Dickenson remained solemn as he kept his bowed slightly. Without knowing it, Anna and her mother's moment of reunion had affected everyone in different ways.

Hilary herself had started crying and was being comforted by Tyson, who had is arm round her. If anyone dared look at him, his eyes were for once vacant - void of anything. The effects of the atmosphere were getting to him in a different way than he would usually react to such an emotionally fuelled moment.

Ray, Max and Daichi were content to smile at each other slightly, feeling happy for the girl and her mother. It wasn't often that people rejoined with each other, feeling completely elated and full of affection for one another - it was a nice sight to see.

Kai on the other hand couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy; rather like how he felt when he saw Max with his parents, or Tyson when he spent time with his family - it was all the same. A living reminder that he no longer had and may never will have that sort of affection. His only relation who was still living was his grandfather, but even so, Kai loathed having such a disgrace of a human being to even share the same blood as him. Although the Bladebreakers and Mr Dickenson were somewhat like family to him...it wasn't the same.

"11 years." Mr Dickenson sighed heavily, wiping his handkerchief across his forehead. He had known Anna a good few years now, and was fully aware of the implications of having her mother return so suddenly into her life could mean. If anyone knew the Moonshine family well, they would know that while the Moonshines were family - there would sometimes be an element of rivalry that could wreak havoc for even the most passive of family members.

Moonshines were known to be born strong and competitive - it was in their blood. Not one had ever ceased to strive to be the best of everyone else that got in their way. Mr Dickenson knew that Anna's tendency to be perhaps more aggressive than her mother would cause problems when coming up against a woman who clearly had her life and experiences etched across her face. When Anna saw someone of who matched her calibre, her reaction would be to put her defences up and act as though she were under threat. Even if it was her own family.

Yet there was an element about Anna's aggression towards her rivals that seemed to be more trained rather something as part of her nature. As though she had been brought up that way. "What do you mean 11 years?" Max asked, looking just confused as the others.

"Anna and her mother have been parted for 11 years. This is the first time Anna has seen her mother again face to face." Mr Dickenson replied gravely. Ray and Max exchanged a look - they couldn't see how it was even remotely possible for a mother and her daughter to be apart for so long. It just wasn't natural; particularly as it was quite clear that Anna's mother cared a great deal about her daughter.

None of this was making sense, and Kai being one step ahead as he usually was beginning to wonder what filled those gaps in Anna's history. Yet he had a gut feeling that he already knew the answer - even though he as about 95% sure that he had never met the girl before. Even though his instinct was telling him otherwise.

It was just Anna's presence that had him reeling - the way her eyes moved for under her eyelashes as they swept across a room with one glance. The way they had looked at him as though she knew him inside out without even him needing to open his mouth and utter a word. He knew those eyes - but he couldn't place when and where he may have even come across them.

"How come it has been so long?" Kai asked quietly, moving slightly towards Mr Dickenson as he didn't want the others listening in. Mr Dickenson looked quickly to see that everyone was still transfixed by the scene of Anna and her mother parting for a moment to smile at each other and start to make their way back to the office. He then looked up at Kai with his sad eyes, and held the gaze for a moment.

Kai felt his heart flip. Mr Dickenson clearly knew something he didn't - and he was determined to find out. Whether his task was made difficult for him or not. "I think you will find out soon enough for yourself, Kai. These are not matters to be discussed openly, as you should know yourself with particular matters." The elder man said quietly, stepping away from Kai to leave him with his thoughts.

_**This feels familiar and I can't think why; how can I possibly know this girl...unless I've met her before? Because the way she looks is familiar, and her mother...her mother's voice rings a bell in my head. What is the connection? **_Kai thought, beginning to feel slightly frustrated. He couldn't help himself. He was too curious now just push aside what was going on in his head as though it were nothing - because to him it meant something. Otherwise, why else would he be looking so jealously at the mother embracing her daughter?

Looking to see that everyone now was exiting the corridor to return to the office, Kai swiftly turned on his heel to follow them all inside. Although he appeared to not be particularly affected by what happened between Anna and her mother, he wasn't about to let it show. He would keep up his usual stance and remain polite towards the two females. But he would also be watching the pair very closely - because as he promised himself one way or another, he would find out the mystery of the Moonshine girls.

* * *

**_Piscesgirl09:_**_ New and improved chapter of Love is like Fire - hope you all enjoyed it! Thanks for reading :) Stay tuned for Chapter 6_


	7. Another World

After 15 minutes of reunion, Anna; her mum; Mr Dickenson and the Bladebreakers where sat in Mr Dickenson's office. For a few moments while Elizabeth and the BBA chairman were rapidly talking, the unsettled teens were sat awkwardly across the room. Each time anyone ever made eye contact, the awkwardness of the situation made them turn away and keep themselves to themselves.

Anna was sat furthest away from all of them to the side of the room, staring blankly at her hands on her lap. Occasionally one of the Bladebreakers would look over her way to see if she had changed her position – yet none of them ever saw her move – not even a millimetre. Of course, someone to remain so still for such a long time most of them found highly unusual. Except Kai.

The quiet bluenette also at times opened his eyes just to glance at the frozen female, who had captured his attention; aroused his curiosity. He didn't understand why, but he just found Anna so fascinating. The way she sat so calm and composed in her seat gave her a serenity that had everything else in a haze.

Feeling that someone was staring at her, Anna raised her head and her intense blue eyes met Kai's equally intense amethyst ones. There they stayed for a moment or two, locked in each other's gaze – neither quite working out what they were saying to one another. The sad blue of Anna's dark orbs startled Kai; it reminded him of a child who was lost. Trying to find something they never had.

A small cough interrupted the moment abruptly, and Anna was the first to break the connection. For a few seconds longer, Kai remained still in a daze, unable to tear his eyes away from the mysterious brunette. She had a power over him that he didn't understand, as though her gravity constantly pulled his attention constantly towards her.

"Bladebreakers, I would like you to meet Elizabeth Moonshine, Annastacia's mother." Mr Dickenson announced, gesturing towards the older woman. She smiled at everyone and they all noticed that she had deep green eyes unlike Anna's blue ones, but they sparkled even so. Her beauty was as potent as Anna's; they both had the same grace that made them a highly attractive women and Moonshines through and through.

"Hi, nice to meet you all."Elizabeth spoke with a voice that was melodious and blinked except Anna and Mr Dickenson –no one could quite believe how her daughter was so unlike her - apart from the fiery brown hair that they shared and a maybe a few characteristics that everyone had yet to find out what they were. The contrast was shocking; no one could quite think of what to say without causing offence.

Whether anyone had realised or not yet, the two females were intimidating. They were not only stunning to look at, but they were clearly very intelligent and they had an aura about them that said they were not people who you could fool or mess around easily. _Now this is definitely getting weird, first we have a female Kai, and now her mother is not very much like her!_Tyson thought, as he shifted in his seat. He and the rest of the team looked at each other, willing someone to say something.

As if the situation couldn't get more awkward already. Kenny then gulped and bravely spoke up, slowly shrinking in his seat as Anna's dark eyes made their way towards where the Bladebreakers were all seated. "Um, not meaning to be rude, but how come Anna is very different from you?" He asked shyly.

Elizabeth gave a slight laugh, and then gave a friendly smile. She recognised that this poor boy was painfully shy and was already feeling the effects of Anna's steely personality. "Oh that! Well Anna's more like her father - and her sister is more like me, but that's more personality than looks. However, Anna's almost all of her father looking at her now; it's just the old thick locks of wavy hair and a bit of my personality that shows she's also mine." Elizabeth replied reassuringly, watching as Kenny relaxed and smiled back.

"Come to think of it, Elizabeth's right: Anna looks are way stronger than hers and are in contrast quite dark compared to her mother's golden looks."Ray murmured quietly while looking from a warm hearted mother to a cold looking daughter.

"Makes sense to me – of course whether you guys are different or not, nothing makes better than two very beautiful girls." Max grinned as he willingly paid the compliment. Despite Max's attempts to be his usual loveable self, Anna merely turned and raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. Elizabeth gave a chuckle and threw her daughter a rueful look.

"My, my! Someone's a flatterer – bless you dear, but I think I'm getting past the stage where my looks are significant any longer." She replied kindly; Anna on the other hand rolled her eyes and sank back into her seat and crossed her arms. A defiant gesture that was typically Annastacia Moonshine.

"Of course my dear mother, flattery is _one way _to win brownie points. Never mind a brain to go with it." The tomboy said sarcastically, her hand snaking slowly towards her pocket. Inside she felt the comforting cool metal of her beyblade, before feeling a spark of warmth tingle her fingertips.

Elizabeth shook her head with a small smile. "Ever the optimist, eh Anna?" She teased her daughter, earning a look that was less than mother to daughter appropriate – but judging by the feeling that the two were used to this sort of interaction, the look didn't seem to be one that the mother found particularly offensive. _This is definitely getting more confusing, _Kai thought.

To an extent he understood the differences in the relationship; Anna was definitely the more dominant one, but in the end Elizabeth was in control because she was 1) the adult and the parent and 2) she had more experience in life than Anna – which the brunette seemed to grudgingly respect. Despite the fact that it was quite obvious that Anna's natural instinct to be a leader was not one to be put to bed very easily.

But what Kai didn't understand was why Anna wasn't acting as though she was happy to see her mother. While he wasn't one who didn't have a very good hold on showing open affection or delight, even he knew that if he had a moment to see his parents around – he certainly wouldn't be standing around letting it all pass him by.

Also, he also had to question: where was the rest of Anna's family? Elizabeth suddenly turned to him and spotted the fleeting look of confusion on his face. Being the inquisitive person that she was and a woman who took interest in nurturing the knowledge of others – particularly children and young people – she took it upon herself to find out about Kai's obvious confusion.

"You have not spoken much - and yet you seem... confused, may I ask why?" She asked pleasantly, watching with hidden amusement at Kai's stunned face. The said bluenette was indeed quite shocked as Elizabeth was then one of the few that caught Kai off guard. He always considered himself a person that concealed his inner thoughts very well.

But he had an uncomfortable feeling that Anna and Elizabeth seemed to know exactly what was going through his head at the moment. The blue eyed tomboy turned her head from her mother to look at Kai – she clearly spotted the Russian's lack of inclination to answer the question and turned back to stare ate her mother. "Mum -" Anna started.

"I was only asking. He doesn't have to answer if it is uncomforting." Elizabeth cut across her, spotting that the two teen's reactions were quite similar. She of course understood that her personality didn't really indicate that she was able to tell what people were thinking very easily, but as everyone had already noticed – she was a woman full of surprises

"Mum, with past experience you should know that people like Kai and myself like to reserve our opinions until we see necessary – you should know well being married to such a person." Anna growled irritably, clearly startling Elizabeth. Everyone gaped at Anna's sudden aggression: why was she acting this way towards her mother? Surely as a member of her family and someone she's missed the company of for a long time should be treated with more love and respect?

But there was something in Anna's voice that seemed to say more than what was in her in words; Elizabeth, with the natural instinct of a mother, knew exactly what her daughter was talking about. The now stunned mother looked suddenly upset as she watched her daughter continue to glare at her with such ferocity.

"It's...fine. I'm only confused because I wondered where Anna's father and sister may be – seeing as they're not here with this little…reunion." Kai replied in his cold voice, watching Anna warily as she directed her gaze towards him. This time, her eyes were very frozen and gave an aura that was not something many people enjoyed the company of.

Elizabeth cleared her throat and tried to put a smile back on her face. "He's away... with Anna's sister. I'm not entirely sure where though" She answered awkwardly. Anna's eyes then became less frightening as she turned her head back to give her mother a confused look.

"Now, uh accommodation. Where will we stay?" Hilary interjected to distract everyone, the tension now becoming unbearable. Seeing that the subject was closed, Anna raised her head slightly before moving to lean back in her seat and closing her eyes while folding her arms across her chest.

"Mr D, I know we all agreed to stay at the boarding school – but can we stay at my Granpa's instead? There's enough room and it would be better than trying to settle a team into somewhere that's completely new." Tyson piped up, looking sheepishly around the room to see if anyone else agreed. Luckily for him, only Anna and Kai were the unresponsive people out of the group of teens.

"Why that's a marvellous idea! I'm sure you'll all be settled in no time – please use the phone outside the hall if you wish Tyson, just outside in the hall." Mr Dickenson replied beaming, unaware that Anna's and Kai's reaction as less than enthusiastic.

The two stoic teens stared at each other with slight disbelief. "Oh god, what have I let myself in for?" Anna murmured with a sigh, looking up towards the heavens. Kai swallowed a chuckle. At least there was someone else like him who appreciated the meaning of wanting your own company.

"Would it be ok for Anna to come with you? That would be ok wouldn't it Anna?" Elizabeth smiled at the Bladebreakers. The said female snapped her eyes open – unable to believe what she had just heard. _Has my mother now officially lost it…?_ Anna thought as she suppressed a groan; as time went on this afternoon, she was quite sure that her question had already been answered.

"Um -" The tomboy started slightly, before Tyson came bounding back into the room with a huge grin on his face.

"Yep, Grandpa says it's cool, we just have to pick up our stuff and sort out paperwork at the school" Tyson said cheerfully, before noticing Anna's slightly disgruntled position on her chair. He raised an eyebrow.

"What did I miss?" He asked, clearly missing that fact that Anna was dreading staying with the Bladebreakers. For one they were complete strangers: she knew none of them and this would only mean more people interfering with her life. Secondly, they were her rivals – despite her expertise and her drive to be better than others – she knew her work would be cut out for her.

"Nothing! And anyways, it's cool that Anna can stay with us - seeing as she's our new team mate!" Daichi started to jump up and down like a deranged monkey. Anna again didn't say anything. She really was a very quiet individual – it made you wonder whether she would use it if she decided to sneak up on someone down an alleyway. She certainly gave the feeling that the surprise would be anything but pleasant.

Shifting in her seat to prop herself up with her arms, she raised her bowed head and caught Kai's eye again. This time, both of them knew they were thinking the same thing - what in God's name are we going to do?

"Ok then, let's go!" Tyson suddenly darted forward and grabbed Anna's arm, a small grunt of surprise escaping her lips as she was unable to stop the power of the World Champion's arm dragging her away. Mr Dickenson chuckled as everyone started to file out of his office.

"Looks like your work's cut out for you, Bladebreakers" He smiled. The rest of the team stopped in their tracks to stare at the older man, wondering what he already knew about this mysterious female. Most of them had already sensed that Annastacia Moonshine possessed strength about her that was powerful – but the extent of it?

Neither Mr Dickenson nor any of the team were sure who would be first to find out. "What is that supposed to mean?" Daichi asked looking bored already – the typical feature of a young boy who assumed that most females he came across would be weaker than he was – being a male.

"Annastacia was a former World Champion for a while – she has been the name of Beyblading since she was a young girl. Because she thought no one was good enough to battle her, Annastacia stepped down and no one had heard from her since; however seeing the Bladebreakers win the championships and defeat Boris twice, it's inspired her to blade the streets again. She's the best you can get, so be very careful." Mr Dickenson answered with a knowing smile at Daichi's shock.

"How come we've never heard of her then? Surely if she was that well known, we would have sought her out by now for a battle?" Ray suddenly spoke up, spiking curiosity among the team mates when they realised what he said was true. They had never heard of her before – the name was familiar to Kai, but other than that, Anna's identity was a mystery.

Mr Dickenson gave a slight frown as he wiped his handkerchief across his forehead – it looked like he was wondering how he could answer the group of young teens. "You shall find out soon enough – but I can't guarantee the answers will all come quickly and from the same person." He replied quietly, watching as Elizabeth slipped swiftly out of the door, her head held high as she strode on with a quiet dignity.

The boys head's immediately turned to watch Elizabeth go, and that was when they realised that Elizabeth and Mr Dickenson clearly knew more about what was happening than their mystery teammate. Snapping out of his daze, the Russian Bladebreaker took control of the situation and decided it was time to leave.

"C'mon, let's go" Kai ordered gruffly, and like most of the time everyone obeyed without question. But as the Bladebreakers walked out, they already knew that they had their work cut out for them. Because the strength and power that Annastacia Moonshine had in one stare was not what most people would consider to be of this world. Unless you met someone like Kai – who was slowly beginning to feel like he had finally met his match.

* * *

**_Piscesgirl09_**_: Thanks for reading :)_


	8. Don't Make Me Mad!

As the Bladebreakers and the Moonshine girls walked down the way to the school, Elizabeth had a score to settle with Kai. She decided that this would be the best time to tackle him while the others were keeping Anna busy with their constant chatter. Much to her amusement, she could see that the tomboy was refusing to respond – only to roll her eyes on occasions when a silly comment came into passing

"You know Kai," The warm faced mother appeared at Kai's side to his surprise. He looked at her and however he felt that she was a stranger that had nothing to do with him, he could trust her – perhaps even begin to warm to her. But he wasn't going to let he know that, "Tyson may be right - you and Anna should be good friends."

"And why might that be?" Kai replied blankly, looking at Elizabeth with his piercing amethyst eyes. It was only then Elizabeth began to realize why Anna and Kai had such a connection: both of them were such intense characters – they faced each other off like rivals and yet their understanding of how each other worked was extraordinary.

"Because you two are very much similar in a lot of respects. Strong, dominant and good at everything you do; yet you're pushed aside as a mystery and a lone figure, a constant shadow, despite your natural ability to attract everyone's attention with a flick of your eyes." Elizabeth explained, turning her head away from his face a moment.

Kai stared at her a while, watching how the elder woman walked so quietly and calmly next to him when he had been well renowned for having most people trembling under his cold stare. But what he hadn't quite come to recognise yet was that people like Elizabeth and Anna didn't judge people like him. They understood there were reasons for the way he was today, and didn't see any reason to be afraid of him.

Kai looked thoughtful as he considered Elizabeth's statement. It was true, Anna and himself were alike in so many ways that some might even dare to say that they were a right pair – though he couldn't help but feel slightly unnerved by the recent memory of Anna's eyes lighting up as soon she first set her eyes on him, knowing that his had done the same.

All because the two knew they had met before, yet their memories would serve them to no avail and any possibility of when and where the two had encountered each other remained blank. The Russian jumped out of his daze when he felt something pat him on the shoulder. His gaze met the dazzling green of Elizabeth's eyes and saw that she was smiling…somewhat sadly.

"Sorry, I know your feelings are personal. But it's probably something to think about – Anna's always been a lone wolf as it were, but she needs someone in her company that…I suppose understands how she works. Maybe you might even feel the same?" She said quietly, searching Kai's face for an answer. As silence pronounced the atmosphere, Kai's lack of reply answered her question.

"Please forgive my intrusion – I do understand why you prefer your own company." She continued quietly, watching up ahead as Anna finally managed to free herself of her teammates grips, and was now walking at a slow pace.

The small brunette stopped for a moment and turned to look back at her mother and Kai. Seeing Anna's face shine beautifully against the afternoon sun, Kai felt his heart pound. A vision suddenly flashed past his eyes – a young girl of 12 was running past in a strapless ball gown, her wild hair bouncing about her shoulders as she held her skirts away from her stamping feet. The sun was warm and orange, rather than the pale yellow that he had seen Anna stand under.

She was laughing, her voice a melody sounding from what felt like a distance away – as she turned her head back to look at him, he saw a pale face with a pair of blue eyes sparkling brightly as she called his name. She looked very similar to…

The vision was gone. Kai blinked and opened his eyes wide, only to see Anna still standing there. Still staring at him and Elizabeth. After a few more tense moments, the tomboy ripped her gaze away from the pair of them and continued to follow her teammates. Her swagger was still very reminiscent of a typical male striding along a path, but she strode with a quiet arrogance and confidence that defined her as now a young woman.

There was also the feeling that Annastacia Moonshine knew she was being watched – whether it be enemy or admirer – so she walked as though the world were a stage and she was in the spotlight. With a silent conviction that indeed everyone did watch her, and there was only one way she had to remain. On her guard.

Elizabeth started walking again and before Kai could stop himself, his feet were already moving to follow the elder Moonshine female. It was then he cursed himself for feeling like a fool, that his instinct to follow overcame his pride and will to lead his own path and expect other's to fall in behind.

"There are things you don't know Kai. I know you and Anna didn't have a very good childhood; Anna relates to you not only in your personalities, but also I saw that when you looked at each other. But don't worry about it ok?" Elizabeth said softly as she felt Kai move in next to her.

Kai looked mildly surprised. _He can't remember…Neither can she, _Elizabeth thought sadly as her eyes strayed to watch her daughter walking slowly, her feet dragging slightly. "How so?" The bluenette said quietly

"Good boy" Elizabeth smiled kindly and walked towards where all the team were talking, in the distance Anna was being dragged ahead.

_She may be right... but just how does she know about my past? And she talks as if she knows exactly what we have been up to over the years…even though it's quite clear that she hasn't been around with her daughter for a long time, but that's her daughter – nothing to do with me… _Kai thought curiously, watching he mother striding forward with a skip in her step.

* * *

Soon everyone arrived at Tyson's dojo after collecting their stuff from school. Most of the group bounded in excitedly after Tyson; Anna as ever remained behind, walking down the path inspecting everything as she came along. There was a cheerful aura that made her feel so out of place: she was cold and distant, whereas even the garden itself said completely otherwise. Bright colours, birds chirping in the trees.

If you could get inside her head, the brunette's world would be like a desolate forest with no life. And often she felt like she was wondering around in circles continuously. All alone. "What's up homedogs!"

A voice roared from the dojo, startling everything in sight. An old man leapt out with a wooden sword and made his way towards Anna. The blue eyed female remained still as she watched the object move towards her, as though in slow motion. She closed her eyes. _Concentrate…_ She thought.

Her eyes shot open as she heard footsteps get louder and faster towards her. The only fate in store for the sword was for it to be snapped in half by Anna's strong hand. Everyone's mouths hung open in shock as they watched the tomboy hold the two halves of the sword calmly in her hands. She had not even hesitated – not even moved in her spot.

The old man then gave a sudden bellow of laughter as Anna gave him back the pieces of his broken sword. "Great skills, dudette! And welcome to the Granger's residence! Pleased to meet ya!" The old guy stretched out his hand. The tomboy looked at him silently for a moment, taking a measure of him before slowly accepting his hand – feeling her mother's gaze piercing her back, she felt that she should display some manners. Especially as this man was someone who was older than her by far.

The old man looked mildly surprised as she took his hand in a firm grip briefly, before letting it go and returning to her original tough-girl stance. "Wow, fantastic grip you got there dudette! Are you into sports?" He asked cheerfully, not really noticing that Anna wasn't very friendly upfront. The brunette shrugged a bit, accepting the question as another attempt in the long line of people trying to make conversation.

"Let's just say there isn't much I don't do. And pretty much anything I do is at international level." Anna replied in a monotone, as though international level wasn't very much of a big deal – when in actual fact most people never even made it that far. Let alone doing pretty much any sort of sport they could get their hands on.

"Then you can kick my little homie into gear when you lot start training." The grey haired man chuckled as looked at Anna appraisingly, his eyes strayed to where his grandson stood; Anna followed the gaze to where a navy haired teen stood looking mortified: none other than Tyson Granger.

The tomboy raised a perfectly arched eyebrow as if to say – I see. Although she already had Tyson pegged, the fact that even his own grandfather was voicing what she was thinking in the first place made her feel less inclined to be…merciful.

"Oh, and I'm Tyson's grandpa! Grandpa will be fine for me if you wish - excuse me for forgetting my manners" Grandpa smiled.

"No problem Mr Granger. And don't worry - when these boys start training with me, they will be out for the ride of their life. By the time I'm finished with them then they will be in perfect shape…hopefully" Anna replied sending an icy glare towards Tyson and Daichi, who both laughed nervously and gulped. Everyone had a sneaky feeling that she wasn't joking. Even Kai didn't feel like it was a good idea to mess her around at any stage.

"Relax Anna. It's guaranteed that all of you will win the next championships, so take a break." Elizabeth came forward with a kind smile. Anna could only roll her eyes – typical of her mother to take pity on anyone that was 'hard' on. It would be any wonder that any of them would get to the next championships with a light hand involved.

The kind hearted mother laughed gently at Anna, walking towards Grandpa while patting her daughter on the shoulder, her arm stretched out in front of her. "Hi, I'm Elizabeth - Anna's mum. Excuse Anna! She's very headstrong and likes things to go her way. So watch out for the feistiness!" This of course earned Elizabeth a very cool look, but knowing her daughter quite well, the green eyed woman seemed quite immune to it. Grandpa again chuckled and the two adults shook hands.

"There's nothing wrong with a bit of spirit, ma'am! That's what your daughter's got and has full permission to do things her way – she seems to have a sensible head on her shoulders and trustworthy." He looked pointedly at Tyson, who was now pouting at the obvious dig from his grandpa for his lack of practicality.

"Oh indeed – I trust Anna completely." Elizabeth said sweetly, Anna's eyes almost popped out of her skull as she watched her mother suspiciously – something gave her an inkling that her mother was up to something.

"But given that this only the first day staying here, I should like us all to relax and enjoy each other's company. I'm sure you would like to get to know each other wouldn't you, Bladebreakers? Anna?" The brown haired female gave everyone an innocent look as her gaze swept across all of them.

Having sensed that all of them weren't particularly familiar with each other, Elizabeth decided it was time for them to start cultivating their friendships even more – particularly her own daughter. But the said girl almost did a double take, unable to believe her eyes.

"What?" She repeated, feeling slightly choked for words. Not that she didn't really dislike the Bladebreakers – in fact she didn't really mind even Daichi and Tyson that much when they weren't acting like imbeciles.

But all these new changes were now starting to get to her: quite frankly, she wanted to spend some time getting her head round it first. But as usual, her well thought out plans were always interrupted by something or other, and as a result she spent more energy keeping on top things than being able to sit back and let things ride. Knowing it won't go wrong very soon.

"Yes, no training or school work: all of you will spend your time with your teammates. It has been a long day granted, but you will be spending a lot more time together. And now is the time to start." Elizabeth stated nicely but firmly. In other words, the conversation was now closed.

Before the tomboy had any time to say anything, the good natured mother had led Grandpa Granger back inside. Anna was not impressed. Much to the Bladebreaker's observations. "Why are you so strange? I'd love a day off from training or school work." Daichi commented, but went pale as she turned to give him a very deathly sort of glare that was more frightening than her frosty one.

"Let's just put it this way shorty – I've got other things to be getting on with. And spending time with you lot is last on my list." Anna replied coldly, glaring at the Bladebreakers – almost as though she thought it was their fault. Even though she wasn't really blaming them for anything.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORTY?" The youngest Bladebreaker yelled at the top of his voice, marching straight up to Anna to try and size her up. But as soon as his face almost made contact halfway up brunette's torso, he hesitated.

While indeed the young Moonshine wasn't classed as very tall herself, even she seemed to tower over the small redhead. _Dammit…_Daichi thought nervously as Anna's head turned to look down at him with a deadly stare. "I suggest you move away or I will not hesitate to snap you in two just as easily as that sword." Her voice was quiet but menacing.

Trying to hide a gulp, Daichi just couldn't take the hint. "Oh yeah? Bet you wouldn't!" He growled, his hands curling to balls of fist. The tomboy's eyes narrowed as she watched the younger boy, not quite believing the cheek he had. But she would soon teach him a lesson.

"DON'T TEST MY PATIENCE, YOU IMPUDENT LITTLE BOY! If you want me to respect your height – start acting your age and I might consider it. Otherwise, keep that fucking mouth shut!" She bellowed loudly. So overcome with shock, Daichi went white and a few seconds later passed out.

"Nice one." Kai finally spoke up, smirking at the golden haired girl who he now found quite impressive – she put Daichi in his place completely and without any hesitation or fear. It was quite remarkable indeed. Raising a slight eyebrow, Anna acknowledged the comment with a nod and looked at the motionless boy on the ground.

_Just great…_She thought grumpily. In all honesty, she knew she was quite frightening at times – but really? What she had just done then was a trifle compared to what she was capable of. But she couldn't shake the nagging feeling that she probably shouldn't have done: the guy had never met her before and it was quite clear that he wouldn't have been able to handle such power from the likes of her.

But as ever, the stubborn tomboy squashed the feeling down and kept her head up high. As much as he was young, he had some important lessons to learn. He was old enough to be told that sometimes you just had to bite your tongue instead of overstepping the mark. Anna had experienced it before, and the consequences had been less than desirable. Not that she would ever say anything about now mind.

"C'mon. Lets get Daichi in and get ready for the evening, it's getting late." Kenny said as he tried to haul Daichi onto his back. Looking at the computer whizz of the group, part of her could almost laugh at how he was struggling to pull the redhead around. But somehow, there was an element about it that she found…she couldn't put a word to it.

Yet she knew that if something like that ever happened to her, she would have to wonder who would dare try to pick her up. Being the person she was, she usually refused to let people 'baby' her (as she so put it at times) – though there were also times when she couldn't help but feel curious or maybe even feel the need to have someone try to help her up. Knowing that they cared about her.

"Hang on, Chief. I'll take him." Anna stopped Kenny and took Daichi off his back and over her shoulder easily. In one way, the others read it as the young Moonshine thinking that Kenny was incapable of applying any sort of strength to even lift Daichi an inch off the ground. But in another way, only Kai could read it as she would do – which is that she was trying to help as well as clear up a mistake.

Kenny in the meantime was stunned at Anna's incredible strength. He could only marvel at the way she picked up Daichi so carefully yet effortlessly, and wonder what exciting new stats he might get from her when they started training – only Lord knows what amazing skills and ferocity the brunette could bring to the beydish.

_This is just amazing! Anna has such capability and I fear we are all way behind in the physical and mental training. Kai is the only one that seems to be her match, and they both seem to be rising at the same pace. They are just so strong…and I don't think it'll be long before we see the true power they both possess against each other!_Kenny thought in awe, before snapping out of his daze to follow the rest of the team inside to the dojo.

* * *

**_Piscesgirl09:_**_ Yo, what's up peeps! New and improved chapter here - hope you all find it good for reading! Stay tuned for the next chapter :)_


	9. Truth Or Dare

_**The following said story 'Love is like Fire...' is strictly property of Piscesgirl09©.**_

_**The additional individ**__**uals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check and Callum Fennel belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters.  
The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check and Callum Fennels auto biographies exclusively belong to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters auto biographies.  
The storyline of the story 'Love is like Fire…' belongs exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of this very storyline.  
The ideas put forward to the creation of 'Love is like Fire…' belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very ideas. **_

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I do not claim possession of any individuals of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the individuals of Beyblade auto biographies.  
I do not claim possession of any of the original storyline of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the ideas put forward in the creation of Beyblade.**_

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* * *

It was now 8:00pm at night and all the boys were sat in the big training room, waiting for Hilary and Anna to arrive. Hilary came first in brown pyjama bottoms and a pink tank top, then Anna came in black pyjama bottoms and a red tank top with her hair tied up in a ponytail. All the boys were fascinated by Anna's well -toned physique compared to Hilary's slender frame.

She had strong arms and legs that were clearly put to use every day under some form of physical exercise – if the muscles contracted, you could see that she was a sportswoman through and through. Annastacia Moonshine led a healthy lifestyle where she made sure she took care of her body and kept her fitness up whenever she could find spare time not doing some other works that wasn't very stimulating.

"How much physical training do you do in a day?" Ray asked as Anna sat against the wall away from the group. Like Kai, the fierce brunette was not one to fully integrate herself with friendship groups – and those who were within her 'inner circle' would understand why she found it difficult to get involved.

Having listened to the question, Anna contemplated it for a moment – in all honesty, she never really kept tabs on how much exercise she actually managed to achieve on a daily basis. But thinking about it now: she did a hell of a lot. Every single morning, Anna either went swimming or practiced her beyblading; during the day, she did a variety of outdoor sport such as hockey and football and when it got to later in the day, she did more beyblade practice as well as something indoors like basketball, yoga or dance.

"It depends, but on average 4 to 5 different sorts of exercises for at least an hour per day." Anna replied with a shrug, knowing that she was probably the fittest and most active female on the planet. The idea of going for a half an hour run was a piece of cake in her eyes. Anyone who suggested otherwise…well, they didn't survive very long under her regime!

"Oh that's why you have muscles!" Tyson exclaimed thoughtfully, as though he only just worked out why Anna had any power or skill to back her point on the sports field. Max and Daichi were sat nearby struggling not to laugh – not quite believing Tyson had made such a silly statement.

"No shit Sherlock." Anna threw in sarcastically, rolling her eyes dramatically and allowing the effect of her comeback to set everyone off into fits of laughter. Kai gave her a small smirk, to which she reciprocated with a sly smile as she spotted his expression from the corners of her now bright, mischievous blue eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean? Isn't Sherlock meant to be smart?" Tyson looked confused as he was watching his friends wipe tears from their eyes, wondering whether the tomboy was actually paying him a compliment – even though it was plainly obvious to everyone else that the case was completely the opposite. Anna sighed and shut her eyes.

"Clearly someone's in gear today." Kai also commented sarcastically, earning a very small but audible chuckle from Anna. The others had already spotted that the similarities between the two teens was uncanny – the fact that they even shared the same sense of humour would almost be comical if anyone wasn't so fascinated with the way the two acted to and around each other.

"So Anna, um, what do you like doing? I mean like what interests you?" Hilary, having calmed down her laughter along with the rest of the group, made an attempt at making conversation. Anna turned her head and opened her eyes again, scanning the younger girl in a way that no other female Hilary had come across ever could. The type of stare that said – What are you trying to get from me?

"What interests me?" Anna's expression was like ice. What was now becoming a bit unnerving was the fact that her mood had suddenly changed, as though she felt that she had shown enough of herself for one afternoon. Then at that moment, she felt a searing pain shoot across her forehead. Even for someone as experienced as Anna in concealing pain, she found it difficult to stop her eyes watering slightly.

She saw a vision flash past her of a small boy – she couldn't quite make out his face properly; but she could hear him smiling and laughing as he went by. The boy had what looked like two toned blue hair, and baggy clothes on…_He looks like someone I know…_Anna thought, resisting the urge to clutch her forehead. As the vision started to fade, she could hear Hilary speaking in the background.

"Yeah, like hobbies and stuff – I know you already like to sing. You're a singer after all." Hilary stated, feeling herself falter under Anna's less than friendly mannerisms. As Anna managed to drag herself back to reality, she again thought about her answer for a moment. Interests?

"Uh, well yeah singing is one of them…beyblading; playing the guitar, piano and drums; reading; drawing and painting; sports; making things; history; the zodiac and a load of other things I guess." She mumbled, listing things off the top of her head. In truth, she had quite a few interests – she liked learning and she was often picking up bits of knowledge here and there about the world, as well as being taught new things by other people. Despite the fact most people found her quite cold and grumpy.

"Anna! Have you got everything you need? In fact have you all got what you need?" Elizabeth popped her head around the door, looking at all of them sat there in their pyjamas. She was smiling softly with the natural grace of a mother – even though she hadn't been able to do this for years, caring for children and other people wasn't something she found difficult. Anna looked at her mother a moment, but said nothing.

"Um, yeah we're all ok thanks, aren't we everyone?" Kenny said sheepishly while most of the group smiled. Kai as ever, not being one to follow the crowd, merely nodded – although he didn't know Elizabeth very well, he found her to be a someone who he found as good company. Anna still said nothing.

"Ok, if you need anything alert me or Grandpa, ok?" Elizabeth kept the smile on her face. But it was quite obvious to everyone the worried look that flashed across her delicate face as she glanced again at Anna. No one – not even Anna could understand why she was having such difficulty talking to her own mother. They could gather that she wasn't particularly used to having a mother in her life, and now here she has one. Which in anyone's books wasn't easy to deal with – even if it was the thing you've been craving for all your life. Elizabeth swiftly left the room, shutting the door behind her.

"Hey, let's play truth or dare!" Hilary suggested, her eyes lighting up with the typical girly excitement that had Anna almost shudder with disgust. _Why on earth that game was invented, I don't know…_ She thought, feeling her headache come back – but for a different reason entirely.

"Yeah! Let's play!" Tyson yelled grinning. The irritated brunette rolled her eyes and got up slowly, before taking a few short strides towards the door. Noticing that she was making a quick exit, Kai also got up and went to follow her to their room – much to the surprise of the rest of the group, Kai accepted that he might have to share his room with Anna without much complaint. But considering that the rest had already paired up with their roommates, there wasn't much space left anyway.

Except for the one person who preferred to have a little bit of peace and quiet for once. "Hey! Where are you guys going? Come and join in!" Tyson started to whine – in his opinion, he couldn't be without company for long. He always needed to be around people; which was why he couldn't understand the reason for Anna and Kai to prefer their time alone – i.e. with NO people around.

Anna turned round and gave Tyson a very frosty stare. "Count. Me. Out." Was all she said, pronouncing every syllable available in the sentence and turned on her heel before anyone had a chance to reply. Kai followed quietly behind without saying another word. "God what a pair of grouches!" Tyson grumbled, starting to sulk.

As much as he found the two annoying, he still liked them – they both gave Tyson a challenge to be reckoned with, and when they relaxed (having seen Kai open up a bit more since they first met) he knew that they were loyal, dependable friends who valued true friendship and morals in life. He just wished they would do it more often.

"Okay, me first! Tyson truth or dare?" Max started excitedly, jumping in his seat eagerly.

"Dare!" Tyson was grinning, feeling confident that there was no way that there was a dare so daring enough to through him off track.

"Snog Hilary for 5 minutes." Except that one. "HUH?" Tyson's mouth immediately fell open, wondering what the hell he deserved that for. Max and Daichi laughed while sat there with his head in his hand, cringing.

"WOAH Max!" Hilary exclaimed, looking flustered. She couldn't believe that had just happened! Sure she was expecting something outrageous for Tyson – but this was WAY too far for her!

"Oh bugger..." Tyson's voice tailed off. He was speechless.

* * *

"So this is your room huh?" Anna finally spoke as Kai led the way to their bedroom. Kai gave a curt nod and made his way to his bed; he took off his scarf and shoes before lying down to close his eyes. Guessing that she was right, Anna shrugged and made her way to the window. She didn't mind Kai's silence. She looked out into the dark night and gave a small sigh.

Kai opened his amethyst eyes, and looked in Anna's direction. The way she stood so still and serenely by the window was quite soothing to watch – he could see her chest move in and out gently with her breathing. He could also see her bright blue eyes reflected in the light of the window; they were very vivid against her pale face.

Sensing that someone was watching her, Anna turned to meet Kai's gaze and gave a small smile. "You've got a good view here." She commented, motioning towards where she could see the Granger's garden glimmering under the moonlight. She didn't know why, but she always felt slightly more alive at night.

"It's not bad, I guess." Kai mumbled, also getting up to look out the window. As he stood beside the brunette, he suddenly became aware of how small she was compared to him – and the fact that you could only slide a sheet of paper between. Deep down he knew that he would usually never ever get this close in contact with another person, but there was something about Anna that didn't make him feel repelled in any kind of way.

Anna, despite herself, felt the corners of her mouth go slightly upwards. She was beginning to enjoy his company – he seemed to appreciate her need to have peace and quiet when it was needed.

Then the two bladers heard giggling and laughing outside of their; the laughter of their teammates, clearly enjoying their last few minutes before it was time for them all to retire to bed and get a good night's rest before school tomorrow. _Kids,_ Anna thought, shaking her head.

Although a lot of the time Anna found people like her teammates antics irritating at times, she did appreciate the fact that these teens - who were younger than her and had so much less life experience than her - had more ability to relax and open up to life's joys far more easily than she had ever tried in her life.

Same went for Kai, and as the two looked at each other – they knew they were thinking the same thing. Anna looked right into Kai's eyes without wavering. "Can I ask you something?" Anna asked calmly.

"What is it?" Kai replied, wondering what Anna was about to query him on. Usually his instincts were quite sharp, and he knew with some things and some people what they were going to do or say. But with this blue eyed female, he had never felt so unsure about a person in his life.

The brunette hesitated a moment – although she knew in her own mind that the question was feasible, she didn't want to make it come across the wrong. She knew from her own experience – much to the habit of male nature – that some of her lines in other's minds once registered tended to get…mixed up. "Why are you so warm? The heat irradiating from your body is not like many males I've come across in my time."

Kai thought about it a moment, and realised that the statement was very true – he was one of those individuals whose core body heat was more than able to survive some of the coldest climates across the world. But he also realised that as he was more aware of his body heat, he was also aware of Anna's.

In Anna's case, hers was even more unusual – for she too had an incredible amount of body heat. So rare was that sort of physical advantage around among the female species, it just made the stoic tomboy seem even more fascinating than she was in the first place.

"I could ask you the same question." Kai replied, his tone of voice unusually soft. Recognising that she probably wouldn't get a straight answer from this sort of word play, Anna decided that she didn't want to pry further behind the bluenette's words – although she was of above average intelligence and skill, she knew through experience when someone like Kai made it clear that the conversation was now closed.

"I'm sure there are many questions we are both thinking the same of, but I won't bother you any longer. It's now 9 o'clock, so I would recommend that we get some sleep for tomorrow. Judging by your friend's actions tonight, I think we're going to need the energy. Good night Kai." Anna replied in a murmur, walking towards her sleeping bag on the floor.

Without another word, Anna put herself to bed and turned to go to sleep. Kai stared after her a moment – he really was quite amazed by the girl's calm and steady manner around him, as though she trusted him with the truth – but would never dare to let him in too far.

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**_Piscesgirl09:_**_ Hey everyone! New and improved chapter of Love is like Fire - for those readers who have read my work before, hopefully you can see where I've improved and you can see the true meaning behind the chapter title! Thanks for reading :)_


	10. Remembering

Early next morning, there was a big commotion as everyone was up, not used to being up before the break of dawn. Tyson and Daichi as ever were running late. Unfortunately for them, Anna's expectations was that her team would be up and ready to train early in the morning; then to have breakfast and get ready for school.

Though the boy's reputation preceded them, and had just proven Anna once again correct – their hold on discipline and organisation was not only astonishing, but very, very poor. Next to the tough brunette's high standards, they would certainly fail for sure and would soon be suffering some very interesting consequences. Particularly if they irked Anna enough.

"Hurry up Tyson and Daichi! It doesn't take that long to get ready, you're gonna make us late!" Max yelled as the others sighed, standing by the front door waiting for lazy boys to finally make an appearance so they could all start making their way to school.

"Let me get this straight", Anna started, her body temperature rising as she felt irritation course through her body like wild fire, "Is this how long it takes them to get ready every morning?" True to what would be expected of Anna's reactions, she would either stay calm and make them do some more training later this evening at a higher level – or she would lose her temper.

"Yes, nothing new" Kai had his eyes closed with boredom, only to open them again and watch how Anna would react to the idea that Tyson and Daichi's lack of self-control often ran the household in the morning – i.e. making everyone else suffer while waiting for them to get their backsides in gear.

Elizabeth poked her head around the door, only to then see Anna's face gradually go white with fury as. Knowing that Kai's reaction would now provoke Anna's less than desirable temper, she quickly made herself scarce and backed out closing the door. Hearing the door click, the other's turned to look nervously at Anna.

Least to be said, they were very afraid of her. And the unfortunate thing about her temper is that even if no one could hear what she said, the way she stood and physically manoeuvred herself was not anything you could laugh at. A lot of people would say it's lucky that Anna never lost her temper very often – in fact its rarity was what made her otherwise 'safe' to be around.

But even Kai had moved back away from her slightly. The now aggressive tomboy's physical ability was unknown to anyone here in the dojo – but there was something niggling inside the Phoenix beyblader that said he didn't want to stick around too close to find out.

"Right" Anna stepped forward with a stamp, the other's jumping out of their skin as her heavy boots made contact with the wooden floor. Her uniform to say the least didn't help her appearance – her loose school tie and shirt along with her tight trousers tucked into some very rock chick looking boots gave her a tough girl look that you didn't see often round town.

"OI YOU TWO! IF YOU DON'T HURRY UP, I'LL COME KICK YOUR ARSES TO TIMBUKTU AND FURTHER!" A huge bellow that erupted from Anna's throat had stunned everyone into silence. How on earth can a female such as Anna – as her size wasn't particularly large, in fact almost petite – produce such an amazing sound? Just by raising her voice by a couple hundred decibels she had command of every single individual that came across her.

A crash and a bang were then heard. Suddenly, Tyson and Daichi appeared within seconds in front of Anna, looking anxious. The tomboy regained her composure and looked at the two of them coldly. "I don't want a repeat of today - ever. Tardiness is not acceptable – we should have been training about an hour ago. But judging by reports from your teammates, you seem to think it's perfectly acceptable to sleep in." Anna spoke gruffly. Nobody said anything, which allowed her to continue.

"Well let's get one thing straight: if you think you can bluff through the next tournament – you've got another thing coming. There is absolutely NO WAY I am going to allow you two to slack off – you're unfit, lazy and nowhere near prepared. Therefore, we will be doing things _my _way: so buck up your ideas – or there will be trouble. From now on, you _will_ be up by 5; breakfasted and ready to train. IF I don't see any improvement, expect some consequences. Capuche?" The tomboy finished sharply, watching the stunned reaction of the two boys, whose mouths had dropped open.

"Y-y-y-yes ma'am!" Tyson and Daichi whimpered simultaneously. Satisfied that the message had sunk in, Anna tossed her head and turned on her heel walking swiftly out of the dojo. Failing to suppress a grin, Kai quickly followed after Anna.

"How the hell do you do it?" He asked as he caught up with the brunette within a matter of seconds. Giving the Russian a raised eyebrow, Anna too couldn't help but give a small smile. She had to admit, she quite enjoyed seeing Tyson and Daichi for once responding to the fact that they needed to get their backsides in gear.

But then and again, it was nothing like what she used to do with her old team: she used to make them get up early for breakfast; then set them off for training; put them back to bed for half an hour; get them up again for a snack and then they would all be off to school. Everything was under her rule, and if you didn't like - it was pack your bags and kiss your arse goodbye. Now that was what Anna was used to, and what she expected from anyone who came under her wing.

Yet Anna had a sneaky feeling that the Bladebreakers would prove tougher to rein in than she thought they would be. "For me to know and you to find out." She replied, getting out her iPod and earphones. Not pressing any further with the subject, Kai gave a shrug and also plugged in his earphones. Adopting his usual walking style and strode off confidently on his own.

Watching the bluenette go, Anna suppressed yet another smile: a lot of people considered Kai to be extremely ignorant and uncaring. But Anna found his quiet manner very mysterious – it constantly attracted her attention and she found her herself since yesterday constantly finding moments where her gaze would wander to stare at the muscular Bladebreaker.

Hilary, having watched the brief interaction between the two elder teens, was determined to find out more about her newest teammate. To an extent, she felt that this new girl was a threat to her position as the platonic female of the group. It had always been that the Bladebreakers were her guys that she hung around with.

Yet since the dominant tomboy had arrived on the scene, Hilary wasn't sure how to deal with this challenging young female. Swallowing her pride, she came up behind Anna and tapped her. Raising a slight eyebrow, Anna turned her cold blue eyes to meet Hilary's warm brown ones. She slowly took out her earplugs.

"What music do you listen to?" Hilary asked in an amiable tone, genuinely curious to find out what music she specialised in. Judging by the brunette's attire, she was the edgy sort who listened to very heavy rock and roll – not something that Hilary would ever dare listen to, but she could see why it suited her fellow teammate well. Anna shrugged.

"Mainly rock / punk, but I like a variety; classic would probably come a close second, throw in a bit of pop and electronica or trance music at times." As she half mumbled her reply, Anna gave her iPod to Hilary for her to look at. Scrolling through the playlists, the girly girl of the group felt her eyes widen as she saw the huge amount of music the tomboy had.

"Slipknot? You listen to Slipknot? That's the sorta thing Kai listens too!" Tyson piped up suddenly as he looked over Hilary's shoulder at Anna's iPod pulling a face, standing just to one side of her. Although he would never admit it, he was slightly wary of the new Bladebreaker – having seen the power she possessed, it was a job to know for him when he was going to get it in the neck or go completely ignored.

"At least someone's got good music taste." Anna snorted as she recognised Tyson's reaction as being distaste for the music; quite frankly she really couldn't be bothered with him at the moment. His antics had pissed her off enough already and she was beginning to feel a headache come on. She had to credit her previous teammates: they coped better with this than the Bladebreakers were doing at the moment.

Swiftly, the tomboy took her iPod from Hilary and walked on ahead listening to a song that she had written on her previous album that was performed by her and her band: The Stardust Girls. As soon as she was a suitable distance away from the rest of her teammates, she felt a small smile creeping up and spreading her cheeks.

Although Anna wasn't the one who came up with the name, she had grown quite fond of it – more than anything (even perhaps beyblading) she loved to sing. It gave her a way to express herself, and she always felt able to let go when she sang – she felt free of anything else in her life and would always feel at peace with it.

This song, 'Four Past Midnight', had been a big hit in the charts – it held such emotion that according to magazines, radio stations, fans all across the world, her song had hit people hard.

_I'm in lying in the bed,  
Wondering if I should go ahead,  
To find you but it's dark outside,  
And I am afraid,_

_It's four past midnight,  
But you're nowhere in sight,  
I want you lying next to me,  
Then I can sleep,_

_[Chorus]  
These sleepless minutes passing by,  
Only let me cry,  
Yet my eyes are always open,  
Just to see you return,  
To feel you beside me again,_

_I curl beneath the duvet,  
It's getting cold where I stay,  
The feeling of your touch,  
Only tells how I miss you so much,_

_But what to do at four past midnight?  
When it's no longer light,  
The minutes feel like hours,  
And I'm getting tired,_

_[Chorus] (Repeat first two lines)_

_Break: It's only four past midnight  
But you're still nowhere in sight,  
I know you're not lying next to me,  
Because I can't sleep,_

_[Chorus] (Repeat last two lines)_

_These sleepless minutes passing by,  
At only four past midnight._

Anna had been so absorbed in her music that as she reached the school gates, she bumped into someone – as soon as she had collided with this person the scent of them made her head suddenly spin with dizziness as she felt another hot pain shoot across her forehead, her vision starting to blur. Cologne – a familiar smell that she recognised. But from where?

She felt her book and iPod slip out of her grip, before they both came crashing to the floor with a small thud. Sighing, the brunette bent down to pick her things; how she didn't see this person coming she really didn't know. "Sorry." She murmured as she stood tall. Anna's eyes widened as she took a step back from the person she recognized.

"Jake?" Anna choked. Stood before her was her ex-boyfriend: she had to admit, he had changed a lot over the years. Now that she remembered, he always had a teasing smile and his hair would sweep attractively across his eyes. Now his face looked mature, older – yet he still looked capable of knocking a girl dead with his killer looks and tantalising personality.

But something had changed him. Whether however Anna knew what it was or not, she still couldn't help but feel a slight colour rise on her throat. Jacob Baldwin had a way of stirring her senses – even after all these years. "Anna." He replied flatly. Having seen Anna, the golden haired male felt an overwhelming sense of guilt rush through him.

Those once bright blue eyes no longer had that sparkle inside them – granted they were still bright; still alive in themselves. But anyone who knew the tomboy well would see that something had been knocked out of her – as though she had lost what life meant to her. And now she lived on the periphery.

Quickly regaining her composure, Anna stood tall and dignified as she addressed Jake with a cool sweep of her eyelashes. "What are you doing here?" She asked quietly, aware that eyes were now on them both. They had no doubt that people who knew who they were would know what history they shared together. Nevertheless, Anna appeared to remain ignorant as she waited patiently for an answer.

"I'm... going to school here." Jake looked awkward as he replied politely as he could. In truth, he was frightened of Anna. He would never forget the strength she had, and the way she was able to command him unlike any other girl he had met before.

As the Bladebreakers came up behind Anna, the fiery young male felt his heart do a double take as he saw who was leaning against the wall. Kai Hiwatari – watching the two with enhanced scrutiny. "See you." Jake quickly walked off towards his mates, who were waiting with wide eyes as they had been stood watching the pair. One murmur in the ear and a quick glance at the Russian who had approached, they raced off into the school.

Watching him go, Anna slowly turned and saw Kai – as their gazes met, she couldn't help but feel they were thinking the same thing. They couldn't understand why Jake had looked so afraid of Kai: as far as they were concerned, neither had met each other before. Even though Anna had a sneaky feeling that all of them were connected somehow…if only she could remember.

The Bladebreakers looked at each other confused as they watched part of the scene and quietly came up to Anna. "Who was that?" Max asked, genuinely curious as to why the brunette was looking particularly tense at the moment. Eyes flicked to Kai, hoping for some sort of explanation, only to receive no answer as the bluenette closed his eyes and turned his head away.

Eyes slowly swivelled back to Anna, who was staring at the empty space where another person from her past had just stood. "No one you need to know." She murmured, suddenly moving away from all of them towards the school. She refused to let any memories get her down – if she was to be in the same vicinity as Jake, then so be it. She couldn't run away forever, she knew. So now it was time to swallow her pride and forget about it.

Seeing that the conversation was closed, the team decided not to press on the subject and followed Anna quickly indoors. As the Bladebreakers entered the school, they followed their year groups to the main hall, where everyone was being separated; boys on the right, girls on the left.

"Looks like I have to go boys - see you! _Don't _fall asleep Tyson!" Hilary hissed as she went past the Japanese male. The World Champion pulled a pout as he watched the brunette sidle off towards Rachel, who beamed as they sat next to each other and chatted. The boys spotted Anna sat amongst a group of girls who were whispering rapidly as they kept glancing towards them. Anna's eyes were closed.

"Looks like Anna's having fun. I wonder who those girls are though." Ray mentioned to Max as the rest of the team grabbed a seat. Kai's eyes immediately flicked to where his fellow teammate sat on the opposite side of the hall. The girls that sat round him were really quite beautiful creatures. But that wasn't why he was looking at them – it was the fact that he thought he recognised them somehow.

_Just like that guy Anna was talking to earlier…_He pondered. As though things weren't already bizarre enough already, he was now meeting people he could swear he had never met before but yet still feel that he knew them. He continued to watch as Anna opened those beautiful eyes of hers and slowly turned her head to look at him: as though she could feel his burning eyes on her.

Feeling slightly discomfited at being caught out in staring at her, he quickly turned his head away and resumed his usual position; arms folded across his broad chest and eyes closed, head bowed. Although Anna didn't always appreciate people staring at her, she couldn't help but feel herself stir inside as she felt the heat of the Russian's gaze run up and down her person.

"Fuck my life, this is so boring." The tomboy heard her redhead friend groan next to her. Giving a slightly raised eyebrow, Anna sighed heavily and sank further in her seat. This was going to be a long day – and it hadn't even started properly yet.

"Good morning everyone! And welcome back to a new week of school! Now without further ado, I would like to remind everyone that school uniform is compulsory and therefore needs to be worn correctly." Miss Asuhara started pleasantly enough, but most people could tell from the few in the hall whom the comment was directed at. The girls who were sat round Anna snickered as the headmistresses' gaze wandered to where Anna was sat smirking as she kept her eyes closed.

Needless to say, everyone noticed the brunette's rebellious attitude to uniform – but a lot of people knew that not even teachers dared to pull Anna up on it. If anyone had the control in school, it was definitely Annastacia Moonshine: she knew it, everyone knew it. And you either liked it or lumped it.

"Also, I would like to confirm arrangements for clubs and extracurricular activities across the campus for those of you who have not heard of these before. So please let me introduce you to the students who will be helping the school with that this year: The Stardust Girls, Total Eclipse and The Bladebreakers!"

At that moment, 4 big photos came up on the projector screen as a round of applause burst across the room - The Bladebreakers were completely astounded. There were the boys they had seen earlier, the 4 girls that Anna sat next to and themselves included. But the strangest thing of all was that Anna was in a separate photo - if you looked at it one way, it was as though it said that the mysterious brunette just didn't belong anywhere.

"Please note that most of the school's activities and events will be organised by our new students here, so if you have any enquiries, be sure to ask anyone of them for assistance. Thank you for listening and have a good day." Miss Asuhara finished on another applause as everyone turned to look at their famous comrades. As everyone was dismissed and started walking down the corridors, Anna could feel another painful headache shoot across her forehead.

_Not again..._She thought with a groan, rubbing her head as she quickly avoided the gaze of the Stardust Girls, who had already spotted the problem. "Anna?" Elle asked quietly, shooting the others a fleeting look of worry. All of them knew Anna was a very self contained young woman and was very good at hiding pain - so when their team leader started walking around clutching themselves with a screwed up face: something was not right.

Closing her eyes shut, the tomboy tried walking away - only to have someone knock her over into the wall. There were several gasps as Anna's head made heavy contact with the concrete. Suddenly opening her eyes: Anna remembered.

And at that very same moment Kai felt a pain shoot across his forehead; the Stardust Girls following. They all looked round at each other, their eyes widening. It had happened. They all now knew why they were linked - and it wasn't through coincidence.

Looking up for a moment, she turned to the person who had knocked into her with those bright blue eyes - as her eyes scanned the crowd, everyone waited with baited breath and fear as they watched the brunette for an angry reaction. She could hear them all murmuring: was she ok? What was the matter with her? Shall we go and help her?

Feeling a hot sweat break out on her back, Anna swiftly moved away and rushed down the corridor at top speed. As she felt the air brush against her face, she spotted Kai - she slowed down. Now she knew why he felt so familiar.

_The memories of Kai and me have somehow returned - and how I lost them I don't know. But I know it was that stupid blizzard...why Kai? Why?_The thoughts were rushing around so fast in her heads it was like someone had let down a dam - it was all flooding out. Everything Kai had been to her and still was: she now remembered.

But what was so painful was looking into his beloved face and know that she had not recognised it before. She had sworn she would never forget him - and she had broken that promise. Looking away, Anna swept past him and carried on. Desperate to get out of the way of watching eyes.

Kai was frozen to the spot. Anna. The one person in his life who he had been missing in his world: yet whenever he had seen her in his dreams, he couldn't place who she was. And he too felt he had broken his promise never to forget her. But thinking about it, even if he had remembered: what difference would it have made?

* * *

_**Piscesgirl09:** New and improved chapter 9! I'm a right roll here xD Hopefully everyone is beginning to see more of the story so far and that you are enjoying it - stay tuned for Chapter 10 :)_


	11. Another Promise

_**The following said story 'Love is like Fire...' is strictly property of Piscesgirl09©.**_

_**The additional individ**__**uals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check and Callum Fennel belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters.  
The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check and Callum Fennels auto biographies exclusively belong to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters auto biographies.  
The storyline of the story 'Love is like Fire…' belongs exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of this very storyline.  
The ideas put forward to the creation of 'Love is like Fire…' belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very ideas. **_

_**I, Piscesgirl09, do not own Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any individuals of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the individuals of Beyblade auto biographies.  
I do not claim possession of any of the original storyline of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the ideas put forward in the creation of Beyblade.**_

_**Any who do so choose to**_ _**plagiarise**__**, copy or steal will in due course be struck off my Favourite Author's list if you do so exist on that very page. Any continuation to carry out the acts to plagiarise, copy and steal after warning will in due course be reported to thesite FanFiction for an act felony.**_

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_**Thank you for your co-operation.**_

* * *

During English, Anna was not as attentive as she usually was. Despite the fact that this was one of the many subjects she excelled very well at, she just couldn't find the concentration she needed. Although her high intelligence and arrogance often allowed her to not always pay full attention to the lesson, it was quite noticeable to everyone else that something was one her mind.

But the blue eyed girl didn't understand what she was feeling: mainly confusion and worry - yet there were so many other emotions and thoughts running through her that she had not felt for a long time. Kai in short had been her everything; always had been, always will be.

She knew this because he still had the ability to look at her and command her attention; hold her gaze so steadily that she was all but lost in those deep amethyst eyes. He had walked into her life and she would always feel that he had never really left it in the first place. Upon that thought, Anna was bitterly sorry that she was in such a difficult position.

Then she turned her head to look out of the window next to her, the sun catching the colour of her eyes and making them sparkle. Unfortunately for her, Kai was in the opposite building - as soon as her eyes fell on him, she couldn't help but stare longingly.

She always admired how he sat in his seat so calmly and serenely - his presence was known and he would not have to utter a word. Granted she had met other guys like that in her life, as well as a few females - The Stardust Girls being a classic example. Maybe not so much Rachel, but certainly people like Elle and Steph made an impression on people.

It may have only been a few minutes of time that had passed, but to Anna it felt like a while - that was until Kai started to move his head to look out the window. As he was about to turn, Anna quickly moved her head to look down at her desk. Sat on the other side of the school, the bluenette felt puzzled. He was certain that her felt someone had been staring at him - this wasn't just plain paranoia.

As he looked up, he could see a thick tussle of golden brown hair peeping out from one of the windows opposite his classroom. Despite his sadness at what had happened earlier, he couldn't help but give a small smile. Now that he had some of his memory back, he could spot Anna's wild hair from a mile away - it always had a bounce and a shine to it that helped him recognise her so strongly. Whenever she walked, it swayed about her shoulders in a way that no other woman could ever achieve.

"Annastacia, I would appreciate it if you could pay attention please." Miss Kendall snapped irritably, looking unimpressed. The tomboy raised her head and gave her teacher a very cold look - she could understand that her lack of attention earned her that reaction. But she on no uncertain terms EVER accepted anyone who was a professional to address her by her first name. Being a highly successful woman in the world, she had earned the respect people usually gave her, and she expected it. To have a snobby woman such as Miss Kendall look down their nose at her would never go down well.

"I beg your pardon?" Anna replied slowly, icily. Through those few words and the way they were said, it didn't take long for this female teacher to realise that she was now treading on very dangerous ground and should probably not antagonise her fierce student any further.

Swallowing, Miss Kendall remained dignified but cautious. "I would like you to please try and focus on the lesson, Miss Moonshine." She said carefully, rephrasing her sentence. Satisfied that she had made her point, the intimidating brunette gave a curt nod and began to focus on the lesson as much as she could.

In the back of her mind however, she couldn't stop thinking: she had to get away from Kai. Although her heart was wanting be with Kai, the memory of why the two had been separated was so vivid in her mind that it was almost enough to start the pricking pain she was trying to suppress in the back of her eyes.

"Miss Kendall, I don't feel very well" Anna spoke up suddenly, causing some of the mouths around the classroom to drop open. Did everyone just hear her right? The tomboy didn't seem to be ever unwell, and if she was, she was always determined to come to school - learning in the Moonshine family was of the first and foremost importance, amongst other things.

Miss Kendall inevitably couldn't suppress the shock - whilst the dark haired female had made it clear that she didn't have very much respect for her teacher, everyone knew that she very rarely acted without good reason. Although she was slightly discomfited by their recent exchanges, Miss Kendall trusted her new student. "Oh...do you need to go to the nurse?"

Feeling relieved that her plan was now working, Anna nodded briefly. "Yes Miss. Please excuse me." She gabbled quickly and swiftly snatched her school stuff before hurrying as fast as she could manage out of the classroom towards the infirmary.

As she swept silently down the corridor, her heart started to race as she felt the pain return to her - this time she knew that it was more of her memory returning to her. Flashing before her eyes was the memories of her and Kai at school when they were younger: if it weren't for the pain, the tomboy would surely laugh at how the two of them could march across the school as though they owned the place and no one would say a word against them.

As she approached the infirmary, she leant her against the cold wall and allowed her heartbeat to slow down, sweat trickling heavily down her neck. Oh Kai...how could this have happened to them? But as the day went on, Anna was slowly regaining memories that would soon hold the answers.

She knocked at the entrance and walked in to lie on one of the beds. "Oh dear, Miss Moonshine. Very unlike you to be feeling ill - what's been causing you a problem?" The nurse asked kindly as she spotted the young girl step quietly across the tiled floor. The nurse was one of the few people that Anna just about put up with - purely because no matter what was said to her, the nurse remained pleasant towards everyone. And despite herself, Anna was inclined to appreciate it.

"I've been having these headaches - a shooting pain across my forehead that's sharp, and each time they happen, I feel dizzy." The tomboy explained in a monotone, making it business as usual - no fuss or hassle. Just get the problem sorted. The nurse nodded and looked thoughtful as she looked at her notes.

"I see. Have these headaches only just started today or have they been happening over a period of time?" The fair haired woman asked gently, allowing Anna to sit comfortably on the bed. For a moment the brunette wasn't sure how to answer - she didn't want to say that this had been happening for over a couple of days now.

But at the same time, the way the nurse was looking at her made her feel driven to honesty. She knew who this woman was: years ago when she was a young girl, she met the nurse in the hospital - Grace. A very experienced woman in the medical field, she had looked after Anna while she was in her care.

The brunette remembered how Grace had told her that her husband had died recently of cancer, her daughter had now been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. And despite these changes, the 49 year old woman remained cheerful - determinedly. Anna at the time had been 10 years old, alone in a hospital bed: she had admired this woman, for whatever reason she didn't know.

Maybe it was because Grace just accepted anyone she met and tried to make them feel as comfortable as possible, or possibly even her absolute refusal to see the world as a place that at times was a dark depth of fear, hatred and despair. Even now, the tomboy could still see that light in the elder woman's eye that made everything seem beautiful in a way that she as young girl often struggled to see from.

"Yes - a couple of days now. I haven't taken anything for it, but I am..." Anna tailed off, not really wanting to say that for once a school day was just too much for her at the moment on top of everything else. Grace, knowing what the stubborn teen was like, gave a kind smile as she walked over and brought over a chamomile tea.

The tomboy stared at her a moment. How did she know? "I had a feeling that you would be visiting me today. No need to panic dear, you're the only one here, so get plenty of rest until you feel better. I'll notify your teachers." The nurse said softly, handing the warm mug to her young charge and walked off.

Anna sighed heavily. As she took a sip of the tea, she felt she could relax. If anything coming here wasn't all for a complete lie and no one needed to know about it apart from the appropriate people - but even she could trust that Grace, the dear woman, would not reveal the true suffering that was going on inside her head.

Slowly lying back against the pillows, the brunette thought for a moment. It wasn't often that people took the time to think that she was only human too: sure enough the Stardust Girls and her mother, and the odd one or two others who knew her well, would do their best. But what it boiled down to was that without Anna being in good physical and mental health, no one could cope. They needed a strong leader, and Anna was the only one.

She closed her eyes - one person. Kai. She needed him, she knew. He was the only person who could help her. But each time she saw him, the blue eyed female couldn't stop feeling like she wanted to throw herself into his arms and weep. It was all too exhausting...Anna turned on her side and before long she slipped into a deep sleep.

* * *

_Waking up, Anna was lying in snow. Above her was a grey sky, white snowflakes falling towards her as her eyelids fluttered gently. Winter. She could hear singing very softly in the back ground, ringing across the atmosphere in an echo._

_**The air is cold,  
You can't remember what you've been told...**_

Those words..._She sat up carefully and looked around her - everything was white, save for a few trees standing bare black against the bitter cold. This was in Russia - she couldn't have been more than 9 years old. In the distance amongst the trees she saw someone step out from behind a great trunk. She blinked._

_It was Kai. Looking at her with waiting eyes as his hand rested gently against the rough bark of the tree. He didn't need to say anything - he was calling her. Anna looked at him properly: he looked so much younger as a 9 year old. A child._

_Getting up, Anna brushed off the snow that stuck to her legs and stood for a moment. He was still waiting for her. She took a step forward - then another - then another - and soon she was walking towards her friend. Just as the young girl approached him, Kai's face broke into a smile as he turned and ran off into the trees._

_The blue eyed girl too smiled and ran off to chase him - one thing about Russia that they always loved was the snow. They loved playing in it; whenever they had spare time, the pair would be spending hours in the outdoors._

_As their young legs pounded through the snow, the two laughed as they ran, and ran, and ran. Together. All alone. A blissful oblivion that was just too precious to break. Soon they reached a clearing: the sun began to shine brilliantly above them, catching the dazzling white of the frost ground beneath their feet._

_Slowly they moved, dancing as they held hands – never taking their eyes off each other. Kai then stopped. Anna was still smiling, laughing; then she saw his face. The smile slowly faded, just as the sun disappeared behind a blanket of grey cloud. She didn't understand why he was looking at her so sadly._

"_Kai?" She murmured, reaching out to touch his face. The young boy stopped her, placing a finger on her lips. The blue eyed girl looked at him. Puzzled. Gently releasing her, the bluenette started walking away from her, his trademark scarf floating gently behind him as he went._

_Still none the wiser, Anna followed him into the trees. Weaving in and out of them as fast as she could, the tomboy tried to find him – desperate to hear his voice again. But each way she turned, there was no sign on him. No footprints, no trace. Where was he? How could he have just disappeared without a word or sign? She needed him!_

_On she went, running through the snow with all the power she could muster. But the more she ran, the more she felt her heart sink further – her eyes began to sting, her hands going numb with cold. The bitter chill was beginning to enter her soul: and never had she felt more afraid. She had lost her best friend – once again slipped through her fingers._

_As she exited the cluster of trees into an open land of snow, something inside her failed; she didn't know what it was. But no longer did she care. Annastacia Moonshine was alone. As her vision blurred, she felt her legs give way. Softly falling into the snow, the tomboy lay there staring up at the sky, wallowing in her misery._

_Snow started to fall again. When the first one fell, so did a tear from Anna's beautiful blue eyes. As more continued to float gently to the ground, the brunette felt more tears slid down her cheeks – so hot and fast that they could've burned her. Slowly she felt darkness close in. Then she heard voices._

"…_**Nothing but trouble…"**_

_But I don't mean to be…._

"…_**Why is she so emotionless…"**_

_Just because I don't show how I feel.._

"…_**Can't you ever get anything right…"**_

_I'm only human…_

"…_**Help me Anna…"**_

_Don't do this to me…_

"…_**It's your fault…"**_

_Why? What did I ever do…_

"…_**Nothing but a child…"**_

_I never was allowed to be a child…_

"…_**Only the strongest survive…"**_

_Not everyone can be strong…_

"…_**Always alone…never needing anyone…"**_

_Because no one understands…_

"…_**Hold on…"**_

_I don't have the will…_

"…_**You can't always go it alone…"**_

_But I've always had to…_

"…_**Sometimes being who you are means letting go of what you fear…"**_

_But I'm too afraid…_

"…_**I won't give up on you…"**_

_Another promise…_

"…_**The air is cold…You can't remember what you've been told…"**_

_And even though I tried…I never always get it right…_

"…_**Just take a breath…"**_

_Give me strength…_

"_ANNASTACIA!"_

* * *

Anna sprang up from her bed, her clothes sticking to her back. Drenched in sweat. Feeling that her breath was slightly heavier, the tomboy put a hand to her heart. Thump, thump, thump. She hadn't had a dream like that for a long time - it had been so vivid that she swore that it had been a reality.

But within minutes of sitting in the orange light of the afternoon sunshine, the brunette couldn't help but feel her heart sink. Oh how she missed those days! Where she and Kai, while their childhood had been less than desirable, were still together. Nothing could've torn them apart.

The more she thought about it, the more the tomboy felt something she hadn't wanted to do in a long time: cry."Miss Moonshine dear, how are you feeling?" Grace came from around the curtain, looking at Anna tenderly. The young teen jumped slightly as she looked at her nurse with slightly wide eyes, the blue of her eyes sparkling with moisture.

Completely embarrassed, Anna wasn't sure what to say - for once, she felt rattled. That dream was not only frightening, but to her was also a warning. That voice she heard - the brunette knew who it was: the one person that she really had to fear. But despite her worry, the stubborn girl refused to let others know the true cause of her distress.

Shaking her head, the tomboy swung her legs and slipped off the bed. "I feel...better. I think I can go now - thank you." She mumbled as she picked up her school stuff, opening the curtain to leave. Before she had a chance to move away, she felt soft hand take her arm. Turning, there was Grace, stood there with a sincere expression as she gazed a while at Anna's profile.

"Remember: you are who you are. What you decide for your future, is not in the hands of anyone else. And what you choose to look back on, should be a reflection: not a persecution. You're far harder on yourself than anyone else has been. Don't punish yourself, my dear: you have come a long, long way. And whatever happens, you will find happiness again. Ok?" The elder woman smiled sadly, taking the young Moonshine's hand and holding it with both of hers.

Anna felt her chest tighten, and found herself unable to look this woman in the eyes any longer. This was in short, the truth. And no other wiser person could've made the brunette see as any other way. Without realising, the tomboy snatched her hand away before she could stop herself.

Just as she was about to apologise, the nurse held up a hand to silence her. Smiled again. "I'll be here. Come back when you need. Take care, my dear." Grace said softly, taking herself off to go and start her lunch. The blue eyed girl was frozen for a moment, before she checked her watch. 1:15pm. Still school time - and what's more she had missed 4 lessons in total. Not a good start at all.

Regaining her composure, Anna threw back her head and started to walk out of the infirmary. Well, what had happened, had happened. There was no point moping about over it. It was time to get on with the day and make progress. Then she felt someone come up behind her. _No way... it can't be..._The tomboy's heart pounded in her chest - she knew this presence all too well. She turned around. Sure enough, it was Kai standing behind her.

For a few moments, time stood still as they stared at each other. The brunette couldn't believe: here he was. Kai Hiwatari - in front of her. Intoxicatingly close to her, his scent on her nose as she felt warmth spread through her body. Eventually, Kai broke the silence. "What's wrong with you?" He asked. Having seen her come out of the infirmary, there was not a lot of use Anna trying to lie to him. He was certainly not stupid.

"Nothing." Anna responded not looking at him; she began to feel unwell again. Why, of all times when she went to be alone, Kai was there? In her thoughts, in her presence – but through realising this, she understood. She had never been free of Kai Hiwatari. And she would never regret that for the world. But at the moment, she needed to think. The feeling of being too close to him had sent her thought pattern on a riot

_He'll try to stop me…_Anna thought looking down the opposite corridor. The tomboy knew that the bluenette before her was fast – but as much as she knew that they would have to talk eventually, this wasn't the right time.

Suddenly taking off, the brunette ran – only to run into a broad chest. _How on earth…_ She thought – but it would be expected of Kai. His athletic ability was very well trained, and having spent many years being educated by her side – she really shouldn't be surprised that he was one of the few that was able to stop her in her tracks. She shivered. But it wasn't from the cold.

Daring not to look up, she listened as Kai chuckled softly. "Silly." Kai murmured, smiling down at her. Despite whatever happened earlier, he couldn't stop feeling happy to see her again – so long without someone to talk to who knew and accepted him for what he was had become a very hard road for him at times.

But nevertheless, here she was. "Thanks." Anna almost whispered throatily, her lips going dry as she felt herself go dizzy. Some years ago, there had been times like these – where she or Kai had tried to leave and neither one would let the other go. She went to go, but Kai grabbed her wrist.

"Why are you running from me? Even from about a hundred thousand feet away you still leave. Anna – please…" Kai was beginning to sound agitated – and who could blame him? The blue eyed female didn't disagree with him. But memories of why she left in the first place were all too clear in her mind.

"Because you told me to leave." Anna replied quietly. Kai opened his mouth to speak, but then he closed it again. As ever, the tomboy caught him out. Because it was true. He vowed once that he would never injure her again, feeling that being around her all the time had brought unnecessary danger to her on his part. And so thus was forced to pay the one price he couldn't bear to pay.

"We have to talk." Kai stated flatly, pulling Anna closer towards him as she tried again to escape. Colour rose in the blue eyed female's cheeks and something in the pit of her stomach stirred – an unadulterated desire to be near Kai. To feel him again.

But the brunette knew all too well that as a Moonshine, when she felt things – they sometimes went very deep. That when she made a bond with someone, it was hard to break: and in turn, desire mixed with her natural tendency to be a strong character could at times be dangerous, potent mix.

Despite loving the feel of her best friend next to her, Anna pulled away and looked up slowly into the Russian's amethyst eyes. For a moment, her breath hitched in her throat: those deep, dark eyes were boring into her; had Anna not had the sense or the strength, she was sure she would have fallen into his arms without question. But never would she ever be like that.

"Kai…just let go…" Anna sighed, sounding close to tears as her voice tailed off. As soon as Kai relaxed his grip on her arm, Anna ran away as fast as her legs could carry her. She looked back only once to see Kai's shocked face. It killed her inside at the sight of a face she saw when he was a little boy, when the he had already been through many sufferings. She felt a pang of guilt.

Looking out at all the pupils of the school running around as lunchtime began, the tomboy sighed heavily. She had now already missed 4 lessons: as if she didn't have enough work outside of school as well as school work to catch up on. _Can my day get any worse? _Anna thought desperately.

* * *

_**Piscesgirl09:** Hey peeps! I've decided to seperate a couple of my chapters as they came to over 4000 words - so here is an extra chapter for you to read, and I hope you all enjoy it :) Thanks for reading!_


	12. Things Are Starting To Get Interesting

_**The following said story 'Love is like Fire...' is strictly property of Piscesgirl09©.**_

_**The additional individ**__**uals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check and Callum Fennel belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters.  
The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check and Callum Fennels auto biographies exclusively belong to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters auto biographies.  
The storyline of the story 'Love is like Fire…' belongs exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of this very storyline.  
The ideas put forward to the creation of 'Love is like Fire…' belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very ideas. **_

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I do not claim possession of any of the individuals of Beyblade auto biographies.  
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I do not claim possession of any of the ideas put forward in the creation of Beyblade.**_

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_**Thank you for your co-operation.**_

* * *

The next day Anna got up before Kai – unable to bear looking at his face and have to become subject to question from her new teammates. Yesterday had exhausted her mentally as well as emotionally. Not that she really understood what she was feeling at the moment. These were feelings that had only been awakened after 3 years.

But the fact that she didn't utter a word to him the night before had been noted by everyone else in the dojo. Although everyone tried their best to act as though everything were normal, no one could shake the feeling that there was so much, much more to the story than had already been revealed.

As far as the Bladebreakers knew, Anna and Kai knew each other a while ago – but that was it. None of them could understand the logic or reason behind why two people so alike were almost like strangers; watched each other as though they were on the periphery of each other's lives.

Elizabeth, being the only person who really knew the truth behind the past of her daughter and the Russian, felt heartbroken. _I can't believe this has and Kai - two very good friends; virtually inseparable. I wonder what happened yesterday –anyone else including me would have been sure that Anna should've been so glad to find her almost other half again…it doesn't make sense…_ Elizabeth thought sadly as she watched a crestfallen looking Kai walk out of the dojo – usually his stride was bigger; confident.

But today he was slouched a bit, his gait slower. All night he hadn't really slept: he just couldn't get her out of his head. The way she had looked at him with those sad blue eyes was more haunting than anything that happened at the Abbey…and that was a terrifying prospect in itself.

_I don't understand…why? Why?_ He thought tiredly, rubbing his eyes a little. Even lifting his arm felt more of an effort than it usually did. For once he couldn't be bothered to hide that he was feeling down. In all honesty, none of this would be resolved until he could just be even 5 minutes alone with the young Moonshine.

_How I could've forgotten her so easily…_ Kai thought sadly, plugging in his iPod – he scrolled to where he had put on some new music on last night. The Stardust Girls' music; most importantly any music made by Anna. He felt his eyes close for a brief moment as he slowed down, listening to Anna's voice.

Yes. She held him still - nothing could calm him, or slow him down like the sound of her voice when she sang, the sight of her sparkling blue eyes flickering back and forth inquisitively. In a lot of ways, the young Hiwatari was captivated by the tomboy. Completely and utterly devoted to her: she was his best friend; and more importantly, someone he had grown to love wholly.

But life had changed for them both. Kai had taken a decision and followed it through, taken the consequences. Now that the two were back together, things were different: for one thing, neither of them had a need to be afraid for their lives or the lives of their friends anymore. Whatever fears they had, mostly died with the one person they were most frightened of - and he was now dead.

Kai sighed gently. It was time to confront the past - and in order to do that, he needed to bring back some old memories. Starting with a certain blue eyed girl...

* * *

Anna felt sick.

When she arrived at the gates, Jake was waiting for her. The tomboy felt her heart skid to a halt - had she been the way she was 3 years ago, she would've given her former love the beating he truly deserved. Well, maybe she still felt it now to an extent.

But something had changed within her: why didn't she feel angry like she used to whenever so much as his name was mentioned? What was now so dramatically different that she didn't want to rip his head off and tear him to pieces on the spot as she so threatened to do if he ever approached her again?

Though deep down she knew that answer. Since the death of her father and her sister, followed by the loss of a dear friend, it had knocked some of the life and spirit she once had in her. While she was still quite a strong, fiery character at times - she could never really summon the energy to hate anyone else.

If she ever had to use such a word, the only people who warranted it were the very people who made her life a misery for many years. But they were long gone now, and left in their place was a burning resentment that Anna suspected would only pass in the time to come.

The golden haired male spotted the brunette walking towards him and immediately moved from his spot, straightening himself up. Even after all these years, Annastacia Moonshine had that charm about her that made her youthful, attractive - but the change in her gravity as young woman was breath taking.

But as he cast his thoughts back to his new girlfriend, Cassie, he smiled. The thought of her pixie like face filled him with such a calm that he couldn't muster any aggression to think about arguing with someone like Anna, who he knew was having a bit of a rough time recently.

He waited for the tomboy. As she stood in front of him, they stared at each other a moment – unsure of what to say or do. Finally Jake cleared his throat and started to speak. "How are you?" He asked lamely, hoping that wouldn't spark a negative reaction. But also, he genuinely cared about her still – despite whatever he did to her in the past.

Anna thought for a moment. For once, she wanted someone to talk to, and if anyone knew how she felt about any of this – Jake would be the next best person. There had been a point in their lives where they understood what passion and love meant to them. Having experienced it on different levels, as well as together.

"Been better I guess." She mumbled, kicking a stone with her foot. As the blue eyed girl looked up, she met the golden gaze of Jake – he gave a sad smile as they both started to walk towards the school building. Neither said a word for a minute or so. Just comfortable to walk side by side.

"Something to do with Kai?" The Total Eclipse leader finally said, getting it off his chest – he had a suspicion that was what was bothering the young Moonshine. And judging by the fact that now Anna had stopped walking, he knew he had hit the nail on the head.

"I don't understand…he's half my world and yet I feel like a stranger to him. I can't look him the face properly without wanting to pour all my heart out. It..." She tailed off, not wanting to say that there a pain inside that was hurting. Because after all, most people thought that the great Moonshine's never ever hurt - even though their silent woes said that they probably hurt more than those who show it.

Jake nodded his head, showing that he understood her. There was a pause for a few moments as the two looked at each other again. Although quite opposite in personalities, one thing they did share was that they didn't give up on anything until there was nothing they could do about it.

And one example would be their relationship now: they both knew it didn't work out between them. But at the same token, the brunette conceded grudgingly, was it really worth the pride to lose a companion? After all, even if it had worked out - would they have been the right people for each other?

As the blue eyed girl looked back into the gold of the Total Eclipse leader's eyes, and knew that he was thinking the same thing. "Look Anna...I don't expect you to forgive me. I know was the jerk, and I'm sorry. More than I could ever let you know. But I don't want to fight you anymore - while we have our differences, I still love you like a friend - and believe me, even though it's been a while, you are still a good friend of mine...can we call it a truce? Friends?"

Jake held his hand out to her, holding her bold gaze very steadily as he watched her for a reaction. The tomboy felt stunned for a moment - but also quite gratified. He was right - yes they had their differences - that wasn't going to change. And as she found with some people over the years, she was also tired of fighting him; because in essence, he was still a friend of hers.

Although they had parted on bad terms and she had once sworn that she would never find it in her heart to forgive him - it seemed to hurt her more to push him away when he knew what it felt like for her. So she reached out and shook his hand. Smiled.

"Friends." She replied back, her voice confident that for one thing: she didn't have to worry about being around golden haired male - he was good looking, no doubt about it. But the young teen felt better that she could walk by his side and know that he was another who was there for her.

Though as she parted ways with Jake, it dawned on her all too quickly that she still had other matters to sort out - and she knew it wasn't going to be easy. Anna already in school looked at her timetable and groaned at the lessons she had on her sheet:

**Tuesday  
Lesson 1: Drama  
Lesson 2: Physics  
Lesson 3: Physical Education  
Lesson 4: Maths  
Lesson 5: Geography  
Lesson 6: History**

_Oh man, you're joking! Physics? Maths? Please..._ Anna thought grudgingly. Physics and maths - the two subjects that most females hated for some reason. And with being said, the brunette could only dread what kind of complaints she would have to be confronted with - especially as she was sharing a class with the likes of Ming Ming...

She shuddered at the thought, and quickly made her way to her classroom. As she entered Drama, she was met with a burst of excitement - everyone couldn't wait to get started. This was enough to earn a dramatic eye roll from the tomboy; granted that she herself was part of the performing arts industry, she could never understand the need for everyone to get so hyped up about it all.

It just wasn't dignified.

Scanning the room for a brief moment, the young Moonshine felt herself relax a bit when spotted that Elle and Steph were there: she had to hand it to the two females - they were usually very sensible and quiet. She rarely had to reprimand them for silly behaviour, and they were indeed very good friends of hers. If she ever had needed some sort of intellectual stimulation when she was their team captain - she definitely knew who she could talk to.

"So it's you two I'm sharing the class with today, is it?" Anna mumbled as she approached the two girls, plonking herself down on a chair. The two Stardust Girls grinned knowingly at tomboy – her manner at times could be quite abrupt and harsh. But at the same time, it was also quite funny: the way she walked and sat down like she was the man of the group was just another sign of how stubborn and dominating the young Moonshine was.

"Nice to see you too, Water." Elle almost laughed, flashing the brunette a small smile – as most people often found if the brunette let people get know her, once they loved her, they loved her forever. Although she wasn't what most people would call the 'ideal' friend, there was something about the young Moonshine that made them feel that you could depend on her. That if you stayed by her side, she would never leave yours.

In return, Anna offered a smirk that tugged tantalisingly at the corners of her mouth. Steph was also grinning – but as she looked towards the door, she felt her heart skid to halt, and then looked flustered. Looking around rapidly for a hiding spot, the blond girl hastily ducked under her desk. "Elle! Hottie alert!"

As Elle and Anna turned around, Bryan and Spencer from the Blitzkrieg Boys had entered the room. Feeling herself go neon red, the Spanish girl too ducked under her desk. The two females started whispering rapidly as they tried to think of a way to avoid the two males. It was quite obvious to their former team captain that they were attracted to them – and secretly, she didn't blame them.

The Blitzkrieg Boys all in all were very desirable partners, in a strange sense – while not seeming to be socially adept, they had independence and intelligence about them that any female intellectual would enjoy as part of a companionship. And funnily enough, Steph and Elle happened to be those sort of girls: although they weren't usually prone to letting their feelings get the better of them, all that control must've flown out of the window now Anna was no longer their captain.

Anna raised her eyebrows as she looked again over at the two males. Bryan and Spencer weren't feeling too sure about this – it was quite obvious already that most of the females in this class were eyeing them up. Being the type of boys they were, they could only scowl at the silliness displayed. Then they spotted a certain blue eyed female in the corner of the classroom.

They immediately recognised her. _So this is the famous Annastacia Moonshine…_ The whiter haired male thought to himself. In truth, both the Blitzkrieg boys longed to challenge this girl: a worthy opponent, an opportunity that just could not be missed. But then the falcon bitbeast owner spotted the two females that accompanied the stubborn teen.

Bryan felt himself grin as he nudged Spencer. "Look who we have here." He murmured; the bigger blond male scanned the table and too spotted what his teammate was now relishing: Steph and Elle. Both of them also knew who the elder Stardust members were, and as far as they were concerned – two very attractive girls. It didn't take them long to recognise what they wanted.

Grinning at each other, the two boys began to walk over to the trio.

"Oh shit! Anna - seriously! Some help here?" Elle looked at Anna brunette gave grunt as she shifted lazily in her seat, closing her eyes – for once it was quite entertaining to watch her two former teammates squirm at the prospect of being confronted by some attention.

"Help with what?" She replied, folding her arms across her; although her arms were quite broad and muscled in some respects, no one could ever doubt that she was female – her stature as a now young woman betrayed her. Because despite the fact that she sat slouched like some males did in their own company, she still had poise and grace. Something that was natural, as well as having had it drilled into her from day one.

"Can't you just glare at them? Tell them to go away?" Steph hissed, looking slightly over the table as Spencer and Bryan approached, trying to move their way through the abundance of attention that they too attracted across the room. Anna gave a chuckle.

"What? And scare away opportunity? Sure you didn't knock your head there as you went to hide under the table?" The tomboy said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes unsympathetically. "Ok, let's be realistic here: what's the likelihood that those two are going to be scared off on the first warning?"

Steph and Elle looked at each other exasperatedly, close to panicking on scale ridiculous. "Likelihood? Fucking hell Anna, you're scary! You manage to freeze anyone on the spot with just a look – let alone a glare!" Elle grumbled, reluctantly admitting that at times – the blue eyed female's stares were something that could make you sweat with fear.

"Geez, you flatter me so – I didn't realise I was Medusa. Look, I'm gonna bloody say this once: just get your confidence back and start talking to the guys. They ain't gonna bite, and they sure as hell wouldn't dare because if they did – they better hope they can run fast enough. Now stop your complaining and sit up. Here they are." Anna muttered to them, yanking the two of them up into their seats with all the strength she could muster.

As the two European beauties felt themselves being dragged suddenly upwards, both of them bumped their heads hard and yelped. Next to them, their friend gave a snort of laughter as she closed her eyes and resumed her tough girl stance in her seat. Just then, Bryan and Spencer finally made it to where they were sat.

"Okay to work with you three? We've got to get into groups of 5." Bryan stated and gave them all a grin. Elle for a moment was mesmerized by his gaze - she wasn't sure what it was about him that made him so good looking, but it was sure working. _So this is Bryan - how interesting..._Elle thought, feeling her nerves hit the roof as his eyes met hers.

"Yeah, all the other boys have joined together, so we're left out." Spencer explained pleasantly enough, shooting Steph a small smile. At this moment in time, a certain brunette just wanted to bang her head against a brick wall: what was up with everyone? Everywhere she looked, people were making eyes at each other or doing something other than interacting normally. Well, by her standards of normal interaction anyway.

Before she could answer for the group, Steph beat her to the punch. "Yeah sure you can, it's good to mix with different people - if that is to say they are worth the time." Steph felt colour rise in her cheeks as Spencer sat next to her. _OH. MY. GOD! _Steph was usually the most confident of the group aside from Becca – but now she felt panicky. It had been a while since she had been in such close proximity with another male – yet at the same time…it felt good.

"So are we worth the time?" Spencer gazed at Steph with a cheeky grin, moving up close to her to make a point. For once, it wouldn't hurt to start the ball rolling in the blond male's opinion – the British female in front of him was certainly of the calibre he would be looking for.

Confident, beautiful and daring: he wouldn't have asked for anything more. Steph in the meantime was contemplating her answer – while she wanted to act like herself, she couldn't resist the thought: What would Anna say? She lifted her eyes to meet the steady patient gaze of her former captain.

The young Moonshine returned the silvery gaze of her friend, saying nothing before turning her head away. One could say that it was simply ignorance; but for the eldest of the Stardust Girls, this was a confirmation that the tomboy believed that she could do it herself – without needing intervention.

Feeling her confidence rise, Steph suddenly turned to Spencer with a coy smile. "If you want to be worth it, you'd better prove yourself then hadn't you?" She replied flirtatiously, eyeing her new admirer with a new attitude. Sensing a challenge, the whale bitbeast owner stepped up to it and gave a smirk.

"Name it." He threw back. From where a certain blue eyed female was sitting, it was like watching a game of tennis – it was competitive, but also entertaining to watch. Although she was quite impressed with the way Steph was playing this. Thinking about it, the silvery eyed female looked Spencer in the eye.

"Coffee after school. 4pm, outside the gate. Be there." She declared, getting up with finality and walking away to go and find out what the task for the lesson was. Everyone at the table was stunned for a moment. That sounded very much like a date.

"Oh don't worry – I will be." The big blond male chuckled, turning to give Bryan a smirk. The lavender haired Blitzkrieg boy returned the smirk as he watched his teammate wander off to follow Miss Banks, and then resumed his gaze back to the raven haired woman he couldn't take his eyes off. If he had the choice, Bryan knew that he could sit and stare at her all day, because she was so beautiful.

She had clear, healthy Spanish skin; shiny dark hair and the most mesmerizing amber coloured eyes he had ever seen. Though he was struggling to catch sight of them because her gaze was downcast shyly at her hands placed modestly in her lap. "Name's Elle, right?" He asked.

There was an uncomfortable pause as Elle shifted in her seat, very aware of how close Bryan was to her. Looking up nervously, she met her admirer's gaze as steadily as she could and tried to smile. "Yes." She replied quietly, before turning her head away to watch Anna in her seat.

So far, the young Moonshine hadn't moved in her seat – though she was listening very carefully to the exchanges between everyone in the room. "Nice. So do you know what's the task today? Seems like everyone's running round like headless chickens." Bryan continued, flashing Elle another grin. Feeling herself flush even more, the Spanish female shifted again in her seat and looked to Anna for help.

"I don't know. You might want to ask Anna." She replied in a small voice, watching as the said tomboy opened her eyes and turned to give the couple a raised eyebrow along with a heavy sigh. _Must I do everything?_ The blue eyed female asked herself, holding back another eye roll.

"Well, if you've finished flirting - then I might." The brunette stated, smirking as the Bryan sent her a warning glare while Elle starting to go from pink to red. Anna knew that if she was any other girl, the silver haired blader in front of her would have her quaking in her boots, let alone looking nervous like her former teammate. But being the tough girl she was, there was no way the tomboy was going to let some guy get away with trying to intimidate her.

Making a point, Anna turned her head to look Bryan blankly in eye. Revealing neither fear nor irritation. "The theme we've got to work with today is 'love' – a rather fitting scenario for the occasion." She said finally, revealing the one thing that would guarantee to spark a little bit of attraction here and there. Not that it wasn't already happening.

"So what do you suggest we do?" Bryan immediately challenged, not wanting to show that he had been a little bit fazed by the young Moonshine's provocative gaze – sure enough, she had got under his skin and now he was feeling the heckles rise with each word she said.

Although she knew that her challenger was hiding it quite well, the fiery brunette could still pick up the change in the atmosphere. If anything, she felt herself smile inwardly – she had done exactly what she had set out to do. Annoy this male so much that he couldn't say anything much to her. Without the possibility of being shot down by her wit and sharp tongue.

Giving him a smirk, Anna tossed her head and leant back casually in her chair. "The last scene of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'…now that would be something that I'm sure we can see is within context. Don't you think, Miss Dela Vega?" She replied, her tone mocking as she watched a look of shock cross the falcon bitbeast owner's face. Elle felt the colour drain from her face.

"Um, are you sure about that Anna? Love I can understand, but surely when it comes to Shakespeare you would want to look at something like 'Romeo and Juliet'?" Elle finally managed to speak up, her voice clear and mellow, the ripple of her Spanish accent lacing her words. Bryan sat there stunned for a moment – he couldn't quite believe how beautiful the raven haired blader's voice sounded.

The now playful tomboy gave a throaty chuckle. "My, what a tragedy queen! And here I would've thought that such a light hearted play would be so appropriate for someone as radiant as you are!" She replied, watching Bryan closely as his eyes flicked from one to the other.

"You have never seemed content to play with fairies, Annastacia." Elle replied, watching her former team captain through narrowed eyes – she had been quite enjoying Bryan flirting with her (despite the nervousness) – and now her arrogant friend was interrupting it. Plus also, she couldn't help but make a dig at the fact that the frosty eyed Moonshine had always made a thing of not acting like young children.

"You have never seemed inclined to be of no opinion – but how that suits us both…doesn't it, my dear Elle?" The brunette snapped back, her gaze now sharpening a bit as she scanned her companion for an answer. Saying nothing, the amber eyed girl stared at the blue eyed girl with no sense of wanting or intending to be moved from her place.

Clearing his throat, Bryan shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The tension was now almost unbearable and he wanted to divert the attention away from the current topic. Even though he couldn't help but feel that that there was more to this than what met the eye.

"You have a really gorgeous accent, Elle. Spanish, isn't it?" The silver haired blader finally broke the silence, looking curiously at the dark haired female sat so close to him. Not wanting to fight with Anna anymore, Elle gave one last lingering look before turning her bright eyes to at the boy she had grown to like with a shy smile.

"Yeah. You're Russian, aren't you?" Elle suddenly asked, now feeling comfortable with being able to answer Bryan without looking stupid or not finding anything to talk about. Before long, the two were sat talking together. In the background, a certain blue eyed female gave a sigh of relief.

Although she and her teammates had their differences about what love and what they loved meant to them, Anna would over and over again feel proud. For whatever reason she didn't really know. Maybe that it was quite remarkable that even though she wasn't their captain anymore, they were managing well without her. Being able to nurture the people she cared about, more than anything, would probably be an achievement that was better than what she did on her own.

Doing what she did for a living wasn't really any skin off her nose – she knew she could do it. She had the brains and the will power; no one really needed to tell her that. What was guaranteed to make her smile was on occasions, like watching a relationship between a friend and someone they liked blossom, she could see that look on their faces that only read one thing: happiness.

But what Anna now realised was that watching everyone interact differently with each other would be now start to prove very intriguing – even if human behaviour was never a strong point on her skills list. _Now things are starting to get interesting…I think I just cranked up the volume…_Anna smirked playfully at this thought, turning to see Spencer and Steph skid to a halt as they approached the table.

* * *

_**Piscesgirl09****:** Hey peeps! New and improved chapter again - hope this makes better reading (been realising how rubbish a writer I was when I first started out ^_^; Enough said!) - thanks for reading =)_


	13. Knives In The Heart

_**The following said story 'Love is like Fire...' is strictly property of Piscesgirl09©.**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check and Callum Fennel belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters.  
The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check and Callum Fennels auto biographies exclusively belong to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters auto biographies.  
The storyline of the story 'Love is like Fire…' belongs exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of this very storyline.  
The ideas put forward to the creation of 'Love is like Fire…' belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very ideas. **_

_**I, Piscesgirl09, do not own Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any individuals of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the individuals of Beyblade auto biographies.  
I do not claim possession of any of the original storyline of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the ideas put forward in the creation of Beyblade.**_

_**Any who do so choose to**_ _**plagiarise, copy or steal will in due course be struck off my Favourite Author's list if you do so exist on that very page. Any continuation to carry out the acts to plagiarise, copy and steal after warning will in due course be reported to the site FanFiction for an act felony.**_

_**If you wish to make a review and/or recommend my persons elsewhere, it is asked that you please do so with constructive advice for reviewing the work of Piscesgirl09 and/or to ask my express permission to recommending the person of Piscesgirl09 elsewhere other than the site of FanFiction.**_

_**Please read all of the above with due caution.**_

_**Thank you for your co-operation.**_

* * *

After drama unaware by Anna, Bryan dragged the raven haired Stardust Girl round the corner of the building where nobody else was. He had noticed Elle trying to escape before he caught up with her. He couldn't help but smile - here was one of the most elegant, most educated women of her age, and yet she seemed to tremble beneath him, as though she was not worthy of his attention. Even though the appreciation she got for her looks and her intelligence was well deserved.

"Why are you running from me?" Brian finally asked, backing the Spanish female up against the wall. He was so close that Elle could smell him, and for a moment she caught her breath. Although it was a perfectly innocent question, both she and Bryan knew that there was a little more to the situation.

The raven haired female swallowed. "To get to my next class." She replied, feeling nervous but keeping her voice steady. Even though it was quite obvious to the Blitzkrieg boy that the confidence had left her voice.

"At such a fast rate? And yet I thought Moonshine was the nerd here." The silver haired blader cocked an eyebrow as he watched Elle cringe on the spot; although what he said was essentially true – she couldn't help but feel embarrassed that she thought he wasn't expecting her to enjoy her learning.

"I hardly think paying attention to your lessons and actually liking those gives justification for being called a nerd. And perhaps if you did, maybe you would be able to give Anna better answers than you did in Drama today." The statement flew out of the amber eyed female's mouth before she could stop it. Feeling her eyes widen slightly, she bit her lip before she said anything more.

Bryan chuckled. This girl was a smart one, no doubt about it! The witty remark just made him want to pursue her more. "So you were listening, huh? And here I thought you didn't find what I had to say interesting." He teased, feigning hurt as he moved his face closer towards hers.

"Blimey, wonder what gave that away?" Elle replied sarcastically, her voice trembling as she felt Bryan's body heat irradiating from his presence. "Look, I have to get to class. Please." She murmured, trying to push past the muscular Blitzkrieg boy.

Not letting her off the hook just yet, he pulled her back to him. And there was Elaina Dela Vega, crushed deliciously against his chest. Savouring the moment, Bryan moved his face close to hers and allowed his warmth breath to linger there for a moment. "Is it me?" He murmured, watching her eyes flicker hazily as she suppressed a sigh.

"Yes… I - I - I mean no! I -" Elle stuttered, only to be interrupted by Bryan moving in to kiss her tenderly on the lips. The soft feathery touch of Bryan was so dreamy that the raven haired female could've sworn that this moment couldn't possibly exist – it just wasn't happening, surely!

But as they broke it, the eagle bitbeast owner blushed as she slowly opened her eyes, only to find a certain male blader breathing heavily in front of her. Perhaps for a moment the two shared the same thought: did that just happen? Even Bryan, who had instigated the situation, wasn't sure what had just happened. The kiss had been utterly breath taking; the way Elle had succumbed to his affection was almost unbelievable.

Taking a couple of breaths, Bryan steadied his breathing and gently released the girl he had come to love from his grip. "You were saying?" He gave her a cheeky grin, his eyes looking at her very warmly. Now here was opportunity in Elle's eyes – although she had been slightly taken aback by Bryan's behaviour, she certainly began to see what made the chemistry so strong between them.

Regarding him from under her dark eyelashes, the Spanish born girl gave him the most beautiful smile Bryan had ever seen. It aroused something inside him that made him want to kiss it off her face – the way her lips quirked into it was reminiscent of sunshine appearing from behind a cloud.

"Meet you after school then, at the gates." Elaina called as she waved, walking to her next lesson. Although she outwardly appeared calm, inside she was almost bursting with excitement. As far as she was concerned this was turning out to be one of the best days of her life! She had met a guy she liked; he reciprocated those feelings without question or doubts - and now here they were, asking each other out.

"Sure thing!" Bryan called back, watching her go as her hips swung from side to side in an irresistible sway. _I'll be looking forward to it…_He thought happily, smiling to himself. He wasn't sure what it was about Elle that made her so attractive, or so interesting – but even so, he couldn't wait to find out more about her. Turned at his lesson room door, he looked up to find Anna there. She looked at him with a burning gaze. She knew: for her it was clear as day.

Seeing someone like Bryan Krutznetsov walk out beaming as though the sun were shining out of him wasn't very usual – plus having spotted her dark haired friend walk out with him, it wouldn't have taken a genius to work out what was going on here.

Unable to look at Bryan any more, Anna swiftly went into the classroom without a word. As usual, the class the tomboy had to be put in was a flamboyant group who continually bustled about - she was beginning to get the slight suspicion that the teachers wanted her influence to settle things down. _Oh the joys of sharing a class with a bunch of kids..._ Was the resentful thought that crossed the brunette's mind.

Sighing, the dark haired female got out her notes and started to read through them with ease. Physics was conceptual, as well as logical and factual: a nice balance compared to the likes of English and Drama. Gradually becoming absorbed in what she was doing, the tomboy barely noticed that someone entered the room and sat next to her.

As Anna felt the seat move next to her, she suppressed a groan. So far throughout this on-going week, it was always the worst time when a certain bluenette would come back into her presence - always the moments when she felt a bit down and she didn't know what to do with herself. Before she could turn to say something, a piece of paper had been tossed onto her part of the desk with a message written there:

**'Looking forward to showing what a smartarse you are?'**

Despite herself, the blue eyed girl couldn't hold back a small smile. Kai's sarcastic sense of humour would never fail to amuse her, even at the worst of times. But she didn't dare look at him - it would only take a second for her to lose it and she would not be able to take her eyes off him.

"Miss Moonshine, please would you explain to the class the purposes of gravity?" Mr. McDermott suddenly asked Anna, who within the minute was now starting to look very irritated. As per usual, there was no being able to rely on anyone else to give an answer for once (apart from Kai) - even though the tomboy accepted grudgingly that was what came with being one the most educated and intellectually benefited across the world.

"In what context?" She grumbled in boredom, propping her chin onto her hand and staring blankly at the teacher. For certain individuals in the classroom, it was quite amusing to see Mr. McDermott look momentarily confused by his student's answer.

The teacher stroked his beard as he regarded the young Moonshine with a neutral gaze. "Context, Miss Moonshine?"

"Gravity is an occurrence that happens in different situations: it can be interpreted as the force created by a planets' orbital rotation, which therefore can act upon anything that has mass to form weight. It can also be interpreted as the energy stored when an object is placed at a point or position above the ground where it has potential to fall - which can then turn into acceleration due to gravity. Or of course we could be talking about artificial gravity provided by machinery when travelling to space, when it rotates on its axis' to provide a gravitational spin that allows anything else with mass in space to have weight and therefore move around freely as they do on Earth."

Cue dead silence.

"Does that sum up context for you now, sir?" The tomboy broke the silence, her voice in complete control and without hesitation nor waver. In short, she had stunned the class with her lingual skills and her knowledge that put even the teacher at unease - bearing in mind that Mr. McDermott was not a stupid man. In fact, as far as Anna had heard, he was a man of formidable intelligence.

And yet here he was - bested in his early 50s by a 16 year old girl. But despite his embarrassing situation, the old man chuckled. "Miss Moonshine, you have quite clearly proven that I am man in his prime and no longer quite as quick with my wits and my knowledge as I used to be. You must forgive me being slow at this age." He replied good-heartedly.

Seeing that her teacher's response was neither agitated nor mocking, the brunette could indulge briefly in the fact that once again that maybe she did know a lot better. But now wasn't the time to be complacent. Giving a gracious nod, she resumed her original position as the cool badass of the classroom.

"Better not waste the rest of the lesson then." Anna said. Everyone giggled - although her response was sarcastic, the bluenette sat next to the proud female forced himself to look indifferent. Life for Kai was never boring in Annastacia Moonshine's world. As the lesson continued, the Russian took a moment to quickly scribble a message, which he passed discreetly onto his neighbour's work area. Conveying no sense of surprise or irritation, she opened the note:

**'We need to talk - after class. Wait for me.'**_**  
**_  
_Oh fucking marvellous..._The stubborn female thought wearily. The tone of the note said it all: she couldn't avoid him any longer - and she knew that Kai was determined. She sighed quietly, turning to look at him long and hard. The young Hiwatari felt his heart skip a beat as he met her dark eyes boring into him - it had been like that time when they had first met again. And neither remembered whether they had met before.

One thing was clear as the two continued to stare at each other with an emotion that could not name or place - he knew how she felt.

* * *

When the bell went Anna got up as quick as a flash, but unsuccessfully tried to escape. She failed miserably when Kai grabbed her arm – yet as his flesh made contact with hers, there was that spark of warmth that spread through her veins again. It took all of the brunette's will power not to want to melt into his touch.

For a moment the two stood there, Anna staring at the Russian's powerful grip on her arm; Kai with his eyes never leaving the tomboy's pale face. "Why do you even run…It's not like it was anymore." Kai whispered, unable to articulate how much he just wanted his friend back by his side.

The blue eyed girl lifted her eyes and looked up at him sadly. What Kai said was very true – it wasn't like it was anymore. But it wasn't easy to just forget it either. The times they shared together had always been in turmoil up until the very day that Kai left: what was so difficult about sharing a friendship with nothing to fear or hide?

"You told me to go." Anna's voice was so quiet that the bluenette struggled to hear her. Although it took a moment to sink in, Kai found it hard to stomach it. It basically boiled down to one thing: guilt. He swore to be there for her from day one, and yet he had dismissed her to battle against it all with only the help of a few friends who vaguely knew what she had been through.

"Anna..." The Russian gave a frustrated sigh as he gripped the tomboy's arm harder and started to drag her down the school corridors, all the way out to the school fields. Strangely, the young Moonshine did not resist, nor did she submit to him. It was that feeling she felt again: the constant need and want to be with Kai, but feeling unable to stay by his side without fear of danger. The phoenix blader continued into the trees where they were well hidden.

He let go of her arm, and stopped to stare at her again. The atmosphere was strange - the sun shone brightly through the lush green leaves and any breeze that flew past seemed to float around them. It was like being in a dream. And a familiar dream that the two maybe had in the darkest depths of their minds.

Anna looked up with a plaintive expression and looked her best friend directly in the eye. "Why?"

The bluenette again was stuck for words. Trying to tell Anna how he felt about her was like trying to explain his relationship with Dranzer - both ran deep and were almost inexplicable. Everything he did was almost bound through word, thought and action to the person he loved - much like the brunette, who knew it was the same for her.

But also, Kai's pride and his refusal to show emotion made it difficult to even remotely pinpoint his true motives for leaving Anna. He had always thought he was protecting her by removing himself, so she was free of people who were jealous of his position that he held by her and removing any possibility of any danger on his part from the likes of Voltaire and Boris. But now as he stood before her, he wasn't sure anymore.

"Yes. I did tell you to leave…but you must know that I did it for the best. I couldn't stand another day watching you suffer, Anna: my influence and my presence had always complicated everything – because – because…" The Russian tried to explain, but felt his throat catch as his voice tailed off.

"Because…" The brunette repeated softly, taking a small step towards him. It was clear by every second they both tried to come close to saying why they had to part – the feelings inside them seemed to be almost too much to bear.

"Anna, I don't know why anymore. It was as though I couldn't get through to you since that day – and in that, I felt like I had failed your family and your friends. But most importantly I felt like I had failed…you." When he finished, the tomboy walked over to the young Hiwatari and stood so close to him that their chests almost touched. Without even realising it, Kai reached out and touched Anna's cheek. Feeling the warmth of his steady hand, Anna sighed and covered it with her own, closing her eyes for a brief moment.

"How could you think you had failed me when you were still fighting my corner even when we had lost so much?" She whispered, her voice sounding like it was about to crack as tears threatened to fall. The bluenette felt a stab through the heart as he heard the hurt and the sadness pour through as the tomboy raised her head to look at him with her blue eyes, shining with misery.

Kai bit his lip. "Hear me, Anna…I didn't want to – I just – I couldn't stay knowing that had I just been a little bit stronger –"

"Don't say that!" The blue eyed female cut across him, shocked to hear him say such a thing that she knew wasn't true."

"Anna –"

"No Kai! I know what I know – and you have always been strong. Whenever I fell, you were first to help me back up again. Whenever I could only see my darkest fears, you gave me light – and God knows without it, I would not be here. And even though we parted on terms that I would never have wished for the world, I can see now why – why you chose to do that. And heavens! I would do anything to keep you from danger – even now. That's why I go!" The blue eyed female came to an abrupt stop and bit her lip, realising what she had just said.

Swallowing, he raised his other hand to cup his best friend's face and looked at her with his equally dark eyes, too revealing feelings that had been bottled up for a long time. "It doesn't have to be that way now." He murmured. Still he watched as Anna's eyes close again. Unable to hold it back, the brunette fell into the Russian's muscular arms and felt them wrap round her tightly.

For what seemed like an eternity, the two stood holding each other – the shock of each other's touch had frozen them as well as set them on fire. The connection between them was still as powerful as it had been, if not more so since they had been split apart.

"I'm sorry." Anna whispered, unable to speak or move as she rocked in his embrace. She couldn't understand why she was feeling so fragile and emotional, and she hated it. Feeling so weak in the arms of someone she cared about was not what she was used to over the time spent looking after her friends and remaining family on her own.

But at the same time, she couldn't curse herself for wanting to let the façade down – this was Kai. The only person in the world she had left that knew what was going through. And for once, she refused to take shame in accepting the little comfort she could indulge herself in.

The Russian blader said nothing as he held onto the young Moonshine tightly – after having just got her back, he wasn't about to let her go again. Yet the way her petite body had slumped willingly against his told him pretty much everything he needed to know. Annastacia Moonshine had not been enjoying life; in short, neither of them had.

The tomboy lifted her head from her best friend's chest to look up at him with those ocean-like eyes. The two offered each other a small smile. At least now they could enjoy each other's company without worrying whether one or the other was afraid of what could happen between them. The two broke away from each other.

Kai laced his fingers with Anna's as he held her hand. "Let's go. P.E. next." He said quietly, leading her out of the trees. As the two walked back towards the school together, the brunette couldn't help but let a feeling of contentment wash through her. _It's good to have found Kai again,_She thought as allowed the Phoenix bitbeast owner to pull her into a brief hug before letting her go as the approached the school building.

As they walked through, a certain pair of girls exchanged smiles as they watched the two stubborn teens walk through – looking as though nothing had happened between them. Even if it was quite obvious to them that this was the start of something better.

* * *

_**Piscesgirl09:** Yo peeps! New and improved chapter - certainly one of the ones I had been waiting to get my hands ;) Hope you all enjoy it and stay tuned!_


	14. Complete Me

_**The following said story 'Love is like Fire...' is strictly property of Piscesgirl09©.**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check and Callum Fennel belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters.**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check and Callum Fennels auto biographies exclusively belong to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters auto biographies.**_

_**The storyline of the story 'Love is like Fire…' belongs exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of this very storyline.**_

_**The ideas put forward to the creation of 'Love is like Fire…' belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very ideas. **_

_**I, Piscesgirl09, do not own Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any individuals of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the individuals of Beyblade auto biographies.  
I do not claim possession of any of the original storyline of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the ideas put forward in the creation of Beyblade.**_

_**Any who do so choose to**_ _**plagiarise, copy or steal will in due course be struck off my Favourite Author's list if you do so exist on that very page. Any continuation to carry out the acts to plagiarise, copy and steal after warning will in due course be reported to the site FanFiction for an act felony.**_

_**If you wish to make a review and/or recommend my persons elsewhere, it is asked that you please do so with constructive advice for reviewing the work of Piscesgirl09 and/or to ask my express permission to recommending the person of Piscesgirl09 elsewhere other than the site of FanFiction.**_

_**Please read all of the above with due caution.**_

_**Thank you for your co-operation.**_

* * *

Anna was changing in the girl's changing area; P.E. was next, and she knew she would be expecting some heated stuff to go on there. Having already noticed the growing attraction between all of her friends, it wouldn't be surprising that seeing each other in sports clothing would be a turn on.

But as she thought of that, her thoughts trailed back to Kai - though she didn't want to admit it, Kai had grown into more of the young man he had always been. He was attractive, and she knew it. And she also had the growing suspicion that Kai already knew that fact - regardless of what other's thought. Let alone her opinion. But then Kai had never really taken to concentrating on his looks - but perhaps that's what made him more appealing to someone like Anna - who didn't appreciate males who were the equivalent of peacocks constantly adjusting their feathers.

Yet she could only smile as she thought of all the times they used to tease each other over their fan mail when they were younger. The two were confident enough to know then that they could pull any guy or girl they wanted. Those times had changed dramatically over a period of 3 years - Anna now saw herself as a nearly 17 year old girl who found so little that could satisfy her in the opposite sex.

And now Kai had come back into her life...she turned and looked in the mirror behind her as she walked past and gazed into it. _How he's changed...and so have I,_ She thought sadly as she trailed a finger down the glass. Annastacia Moonshine had changed so much over the past 3 years - her face was still youthful in many respects. Had she not possessed such gravity and maturity about her, you could mistake her for a 14 year old.

But it was that young, fresh spirit that attracted so many people, and over the years there has only been one person who understood what she was about. Again she looked at her reflection and felt her insecurity rise. Amongst the many females she had met, Anna had never yet still understood why everyone found her so desirable.

She wasn't very tall; her build was just above "petite" because of her natural athletic ability; she had pale skin with freckles; her hair was brown and to match that - instead of warm brown eyes - she was given deep blue eyes.

However Anna felt about her body, she always tried to be positive about it. Despite whatever her father had once said about her. "Anna! You coming?" Becca asked, Anna turned and looked at the tall 18 year old redhead, whose green eyes looked very concerned.

The tomboy stared at the Russian female for a moment; she could always see why guys had always liked Becca. She was confident, beautiful and she knew it - guys knew it as well and Becca reveled in the constant attention.

Sometimes for Anna, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy pierce her heart as she was reminded that Becca and the other Stardust Girls had a far less harsh childhood than she did, and were given the one thing that Anna had yearned for since Kai had left: love. From their friends, family, anyone they met.

Each time Anna came across someone, she couldn't help but put across that in order for someone to be loved by her - they had to earn it. And the constant battle to feel like she was respected for who she was had become a habit from the past 3 years.

Anna turned her head away after a few moments and stared outside the door, where she could see all the males bounding out of the changing room excitedly. Eager to show off their physicality and athletic skill in front of all the females they could flaunt themselves to. Anna rolled her eyes and thanked God that Kai had never been like that...or at least only to her anyway.

"Hn." Was all Anna grunted, and swiftly exited the changing room to begin the lesson. Becca shook her head with a sigh, before quickly checking herself in the mirror. Yes, up front she seemed quite vain - but she always thought it better to try and like you. Otherwise who would want to know you? Not many in her books.

She puckered her lips and gave a provocative smile. It was time show off what she was made of. Although she wasn't as adept as Anna when it came to sport, she certainly came close - and she couldn't wait to start heating up some competition.

As the two females entered the gym, Becca stiffened. "What's up?" Anna muttered, feeling like she wanted to vomit up her guts as she saw Becca's gaze stray towards the captain of the Blitzkrieg Boys - Tala Valkov. Admittedly, she could see why Becca found him attractive: he was well known for being quite popular with the ladies - yet his cool, icy manner upfront was certainly mysterious. And his physicality, being that of a sportsman, was an added bonus.

But what seemed to be a major turn off about Tala for Anna was his tendency to be almost too flirtatious, plus she didn't know him very well at all and vice versa. Anna was a woman who wanted a relationship was deep founded; one where the two in the couple could trust each other completely and have something about them that assured you that no matter what - they would be there for you.

Plus also, Anna knew that she was blessed and cursed in being constantly bound to Kai -whenever she did or said anything these days, she couldn't help but think of him. She had always gone to him when she needed advice; he had been there supporting for many years and that only stopped when the two had to make their separate ways. And it was then Anna knew she was damned to forget Kai and his memory that remained so revered in her mind - it had been hard in her young years to imagine what life would be like without Kai.

And the three years she had managed so without him had been the time of her life when she had never felt so lost or misunderstood to the world. Her gaze began to wander across the hall

Becca's eyes went soft as she watched the redhead Russian stand tall and proud among the gathering female company. "That gorgeous guy with red hair, Tala, is what's up. Boy, he's fit." Becca looked at him dreamily. Anna's snapped open and looked at the confident female with disgust as she listened to what she called 'puppy talk' trail out of the redhead's mouth.

Anna swiftly stepped forward and slapped her across the face. Completely stunned for a moment, Becca took a few moments before she realised what just happened and shook her head. "Um, yeah, I needed that." Becca said, clearly mentally slapping herself as she realised what she just said.

The former leader of the Stardust Girls rolled her eyes again, before walking off to find a wall to lean against. Becca chuckled as she turned around - only to find that Tala was there right in front of her, before accidently bumping into him without realizing. She blushed a little as she took a couple of steps backwards.

"Oh gosh! Sorry - should've been looking where I was going." She gabbled a bit, closing her eyes for a moment as she tried to control herself, then opening them a crack as she bit her lip. Tala smirked as he watched the tall slim girl tremble in his presence – he knew Becca was confident and often didn't let many males get _that_ close – even if she was the sexy, provocative little flirt that she was. A good start in his opinion.

He decided it was now time to get the ball rolling – he had already spotted plenty of guys in the class eyeing up most of the girls. Becca being one of the targets. "No worries, gorgeous, need a partner?" Tala's smirk increased as he watched Becca's face turn into one that looked completely surprised.

Mainly because she couldn't quite believe what she had just heard – Tala had basically asked her to be his partner! And the number of times the word 'gorgeous' spun round her head was almost infinity. Tala Valkov thought she was gorgeous, and she loved it! "Wh- what? With... you?" She stammered, trying to keep her cool and regain her self-control.

Although most of the girls that knew Anna tried to be anything unlike her – they couldn't help but admire the fact that she was self-contained and rarely cracked under the pressure of constant attention. Especially if it was a young man brave enough flatter her. They often caught themselves trying to copy the way she captured male attention as well as using it their advantage. But not always to great avail.

Anna found it very amusing – not just from past experience, but this particular encounter was far more interesting: seeing Becca go red under the gaze of young man such as Tala, who was effectively her match. Both of them were confident; arrogant – anyone couldn't help but feel intrigued by how this relationship would work.

Of course, the tomboy didn't show it apart from secretly smirking as she bowed her head to make her hair fall over her face. "Yes, with me. Why wouldn't I?" Tala grinned and sneakily put his arm across Becca's shoulders, making sure she felt the full effect of his body up against hers. The emerald eyed female looked very faint as she felt her heart thump hard in her chest.

Gathering whatever of her wits she had left, Becca looked up into Tala's crystal blue eyes and gave him a seductive little smile, unhooking his arm from her shoulder before standing on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear. "Yeah sure." She murmured gently, stirring a strand of his flame hair, enjoying the sight of Tala closing his eyes in pleasure. Satisfied that she finally had his attention, she gave the Blitzkrieg captain a cheeky wink before strutting off.

Tala quickly snapped out of his daze and marched quickly after Becca. Anna smirked at the classic display of cat and mouse – Becca was now being chased and there was nothing she could do about it. She turned to move, only to bump into Kai, who had been stood right next to her. Feeling her heart skip a slight beat the blue eyed girl raised her head to meet the bluenette's amethyst eyes.

There they stood for a moment staring at each other. Being in one another's personal space was intoxicating – despite the fact that years before, they had always been comfortable and never really seemed bothered by how close they were. But it seemed that 3 years apart had bridged feelings between them that were stronger and growing in power.

"Oh." Anna said in mock surprise. Kai rolled his eyes as he gave the quietest of chuckles. The sound of his voice made the hairs on the back of the tomboy's neck stand on end; she couldn't help loving the sound of his voice. He was still the person that was quite a big part of her world – without him, she felt like nothing.

Kai gave a small smirk. "You used to do this whenever you wanted to be my partner – you waited for me at the side." He murmured, relishing the memory of the times at school when the females would flock to him, begging in to be his partner. And there Anna would be, leaning against any spare wall she could find. Waiting patiently with an amused expression on her face for only him to see. Whenever he saw her after a day like that, her company was a relief as well as a pleasure.

Not only that, both of them had always been outstanding when they were partners. Together, they were virtually unbeatable and there was nothing anyone else could do about it. Kai decided to make the first move. "You're my partner, got that?" He said simply, taking control of the situation.

Although she knew she didn't have much choice, Anna couldn't help but feel pleased that he had still chosen her over the abundance of people who were running around the sports hall. She turned her head to meet Kai's eyes and raised one of those provocative eyebrows that she liked to use whenever she used to switch on that challenging smile.

"Then all the girls might just have to kill me, won't they?" Anna smirked as Kai turned to see some of the girls throwing her very nasty looks. Even though she was only teasing, Kai knew that the tomboy could at times be quite protective over him – particularly when it came to being flocked by a huge mass of fan girls. And Kai in turn would always be the same for her; the brunette's constant pull of many male fans put him on edge. Anna was his, and he was hers. Both of them knew they liked to make their mark.

"Hn. Looks like it." He answered quietly, both of them smiling knowingly at each other, before they both resumed their positions, closing their eyes while leaning up against the wall.

"Miss Moonshine? A word please?" The gym teacher, Mr. Cahill, called. Anna sighed heavily as Kai smirked at her, giving him a light punch in the arm as she walked towards the unwanted attention - if she was honest about it, having her best friend's opinion on her looks was enough, trusting his judgment more than anything. She didn't another in the long list of the tomboy's admirers.

Mr. Cahill had many girl fans with his spiky black hair, crimson eyes and well trained physique. Only girls like Anna, Natasha and Abi seemed to be not as interested with some of the younger male teachers across the school. But at the same time, the blue eyed female was often quite sardonic when it came to watching the girls drool over them.

"Sir." Anna addressed him coolly, looking indifferent. Mr. Cahill turned slowly to meet the fierce stare of his young student: although it went against his job, he couldn't help but let his eyes wander appraisingly across the brunette's physique. Everyone knew that most men were unable to resist the charm that she possessed, even the ones who were old enough to know better.

But despite himself, Mr. Cahill did his best to ignore his inner feelings and tried to stick to the point. "Could you do today's lesson for me? I have an important meeting and I have unsuccessfully not found a supply teacher. You up for it?" He asked politely enough, but not without throwing the blue eyed girl a cheeky grin.

Raising a perfectly arched eyebrow, the brunette felt herself smile inwardly. She was in complete control, and they both knew it. Plus also, it was exactly where she liked to be with most males - where they knew their place with her, without daring to argue otherwise. "And what do you think the answers going to be?" She questioned, an edge of teasing creeping into her tone of voice.

Feeling colour rise up his neck, the now embarrassed teacher felt slightly lost for words. "Yes?" He replied, still eyeing her up - but warily this time. He knew this was signal for him to stop his attempt at flirting: Anna was giving him enough of a warning and reminder that she was still 16. End of story.

"Good. I'll take it from here. Thank you. Sir." Triumphant, the tomboy took the clipboard, pen and whistle off him, then left him stood there for a moment speechless. Gathering whatever pride and dignity he had left, Mr. Cahill swiftly made his exit. _Little minx_, he thought_._

Anna only had to blow the whistle once and everyone stopped. Satisfied that she had their full attention, she began her new regime…which she knew she was going to enjoy "Right. Mr. Cahill is currently in a meeting - so I will be running this lesson. Today we're doing basketball: so please arrange yourselves into 4 groups of 6. Now!" Anna instructed as she then did the register quietly while everyone sorted themselves. When she looked up, everyone had sorted themselves into two groups of each sex.

Sighing heavily, the brunette scanned the groups briefly and made a decision. "Seeing as you're all incapable of working with the opposite sex, it'll be a competition between boy and girl. Start warming up and I'll decide who has bibs." Turning on her heel, the young Moonshine walked towards the white board. Becca in the meantime was fussing - she really didn't want to play up against Tala. Not wanting to make a fool of herself.

In a desperate attempt to get her way, the redhead stormed up to Anna and got right in her face. "You are _seriously_ expecting me to play basketball? With _them?_" She hissed, jabbing her finger imperiously towards the group of girls that she was now in a team with. Interested to know what had got the diva so worked up, Tala strained to listen as he watched the pair of females carefully.

"Yes I do - what has changed, Miss Howard? A certain admirer?" Anna replied unsympathetically in her bored tone. Becca's mouth dropped open. Same old, same old. If the boys didn't like something she did, they started messing about. If the girls didn't like something – cue the ear muffs. As far as the tomboy was concerned, they were all old enough to start taking responsibility and accept the fact they won't always be able to work with the people they would like to work with.

Looking around to see Tala watching her, Becca flushed red and turned back to Anna, her eyes narrowing. "Don't change the subject – this has nothing to do with – with him! Look: I'm working with Rachel. _Again_. She _HATES _basketball!" The redhead fumed. Clearly hitting a nerve somewhere, the brunette faced her former teammate with a glint in her eye.

"And you think you're an exception to the rule, do you? Well let me make one thing clear: just because I am no longer your team captain, doesn't mean you can talk to me like that, or especially talk about your teammates like that. If you think you can be the boss round here – you have a _lot_ to learn about being a leader. And that's putting it lightly. Now go!" Anna barked at Becca, raising her voice ever so slightly. Enough to make a point.

Which the emerald eyed girl missed. "You little - "

"I SAID GO!" Anna cut across her with a shout. Everyone stopped in their tracks, startled by the volume and the tone of in the tomboy's voice. Even some of the boys were eyeing the fierce teen nervously – the school was learning fast that you never messed around with Annastacia Moonshine.

Unless you wanted to be humiliated. Just like what happened to Miss Howard, who bit her tongue hard and turned on her heel, stomping off fuming. Sighing slightly, the blue eyed female rubbed her forehead lightly as she turned back to the board. She didn't like being harsh with Becca; she knew deep down that the redhead was an excellent companion.

But unfortunately it was hot tempered females like Becca who needed reminding of their place – and the only way to do that on occasions was to be cruel to be kind. It was true: the slim Russian girl had never really been a leader – not born with it, nor when Anna was captain could she ever learn. Either you had the aptitude to be a leader or you didn't.

It was a hard fact to accept for most people, who would almost certainly do as Becca said without question – but what they didn't realise was that her ability to be able to take responsibility for everyone was limited.

"That was a bit harsh Anna. She's only been captain for, what? A few months now?" Tala suddenly spoke up, looking slightly annoyed. From his experience, he knew what it was like to be a captain; where people didn't think he could do his job. And having seen how Becca was clearly affected by this, he wanted to let the right people know where she was coming from.

"And what – were you doing listening in on our conversation?" Anna snapped back bitingly, looking at Tala through narrowed eyes. What the redhead Russian didn't know was that the tomboy saw and heard everything. She had already spotted that he was poking his nose in where he shouldn't have been long before he ever brought it up.

"Would've been difficult not to from the way you were shouting at her." The Blitzkrieg leader snapped back – she was just like Kai. There was something about her that irritated the shit out of him, and he could never put a finger on why that was. But whatever the cause, he felt threatened.

Seeing that Anna was now being provoked, Kai stepped forward and decided it was time to let people know that he wasn't going to allow them to speak to his friend like that. "Like you're making it any better." He growled.

Seeing that another unwanted rival had stepped in, Tala's ice blue eyes narrowed as he watched the bluenette's violet ones scan him like a predator. "What the fuck has this got to do with you, Hiwatari? Being the knight in shining armour here?"

Feeling something snap inside of her, the tomboy felt her pulse hit the roof as she stepped between the two of them and got right in the Blitzkrieg captain's face. Making it quite clear that he had just overstepped the mark – she didn't mind the arrogant bastard tackling her. But one thing she would not allow was to have Kai being spoken to like that. Ever.

"You may be smart with words Mr. Valkov – but they clearly don't do you any favours. As far as this goes, you're just proving that you are full of as much hot air as Becca is – quite frankly, I have neither the time or the patience today. I have enough on my plate as it is – and you sticking your fucking oar in, is not called for. So a suggestion: get the fuck out of my face and do as you're bloody well asked for once. Or it'll be a nice trip to a place where the sun don't shine. Your choice."

The way the brunette said her speech so _calmly_ while throwing the redhead a deadly glare was beginning to make everyone nervous. There was no doubt that this girl was serious – and boy, oh boy, the message couldn't have sunk in any quicker!

Tala fumed and stormed off. She smirked. Hell yeah, she still had finesse – and it was sure working very nicely; particularly as the redheads were now starting to piss her off. Which in any circumstance is less than desirable. "Finally they stop talking." Anna breathed out with relief, feeling overcome a sudden tiredness.

Seeing that the blue eyed female was now agitated, Kai slowly placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and drew her slowly back close to him. "Stay strong." He murmured gently in her ear, squeezing his hand to let her know he was there. Sighing, the tomboy stirred and moved away reluctantly. Aware that eyes were on them all the time.

"What else could I be." She replied simply, even though the way that the Phoenix blader was looking at her said that they both knew that answer.

* * *

During their Maths class everyone was in fits of giggles. Becca and Tala were busy showing off, while Steph; Elle; Bryan and Spencer continued to crack jokes with each other. Anna and Kai in the meantime were the only ones that seemed to be calm, working steadily on their school work in comfortable silence as they sat next to each other.

The Russian gave his partner a nudge. "How the hell did you manage with this on your own over the past 3 years?" He whispered. The tomboy gave a sigh as she turned and gave him a look that said – I don't know either.

"Trust me – if I was still their captain, they wouldn't be like this. But unfortunately, Granger and Sumeragi are enough to contend with at the moment – let alone a bunch of girls who should be able to look after themselves by now." She hissed back, rolling her eyes as she watched a certain pair of redheads continually flirting with each other and the scene of boys and girls drooling over them as they watched.

Kai gave a nod. Point taken. Elle then turned round in her seat to look at the pair of stoic teens, her eyes shining with laughter. "Hey guys! Why don't you come and sit with us?" The response that the Spanish female earned was a look from both of them that told her basically, they thought she was completely and utterly mad to even ask that question.

"What? We're just talking about that time Steph got chased by that elephant when we went to visit the Sahara. We do actually enjoy your company, y'know." The dark haired girl pressed on, determined to get her friends to join in – after all, they were a bit out of practice with their social interactions.

"Really? I never would've guessed that. People must really love sitting next to us." Anna replied – that must have been the umpteenth sarcastic comment of the day, but it still made Kai snigger as he gave her a smirk.

"Either that or

"Um... Miss. Moonshine? Mr. Hiwatari? Something overly funny?" Mr. Miyagi asked, looking at the tomboy with a slight quizzical expression on his face – it wasn't often for the young pair to suddenly start laughing. Particularly as the things that they found amusing where not always what everyone else understood.

"No sir." Anna composed herself she said this, as did Kai, both rearranging their features to their usual impassive expression. On the other side of the classroom, where the two redhead's were sat, Tala slipped his hand under the table and pinched Becca's knee. Yelping in surprise, the emerald eyed female jumped and fell back off her chair.

Everyone burst out laughing as they watched the feisty female sit up in a dazed manner, giggling helplessly as she looked up at her tormentor. Watching the embarrassing scene, the tomboy shut her eyes with a sigh and slid down in her seat as she pulled up the hood of her jacket, scowling.

"Right! Valkov and Howard – outside!" Mr. Miyagi suddenly shouted. Everyone stopped dead in their seat to stare the fuming teacher – even Anna opened her eyes to raise a slight eyebrow. She always wondered how these adults became teachers if they couldn't control their tempers. But having seen the way everyone was acting in class today, she could kind of see where the irritation came from.

"What? It was Tala who pinched me!" Becca was struggling to contain herself as everyone started to shake with mirth again, getting up and straightening herself out with a defiant toss of her hair. Unfortunately lacking the finesse and control, the teacher did not react kindly to his order being contradicted.

"OUT!" Mr. Miyagi roared. Smirking at the pale skinned girl, the wolf bitbeast owner grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the classroom. As soon as they left the room, the two were clutching their sides as they started to laugh. In the spur of the moment, Tala went over and tickled her for his amusement – unaware that footsteps were approaching.

Completely taken by surprise yet again, Becca half laughed and squealed as she struggled against the Blitzkrieg captain's fingers – moving across her skin mercilessly as tears of laughter streaked down her cheeks. And then the headmistress came around the corner.

Miss Asuhara felt her eyes nearly pop out of their sockets as she came across the outrageous display. "Mr. Valkov! Stop touching Miss. Howard immediately - and Miss. Howard you're all giggly as usual again - stop it at once!" She ordered in her high, imperious voice. Becca gave a gasp as she heard the voice, and jumped away from Tala.

The two now stood before the headmistress, who was staring at them with disgust as she tried to instigate some control over her rebellious students. "Perhaps you two would like to explain to me why first of all you have been sent out, and why you are not taking measures to calm yourselves down?"

Becca swiveled her head to look at Tala. The icy eyed male was staring at his superior with contempt and folded his arms, keeping up the bad boy stance. The slim female had to bite her lip so she wouldn't start drooling at the sight of the attractive blader before – how did he do it? _The sexy bastard…_She thought with longing.

"Why don't you ask the teacher himself? I'm sure he'd be happy to explain to you what happened." The Blitzkrieg captain replied coldly. Before she could stop herself, the emerald eyed Russian let loose a small giggle: as her headmistress' hawk-like gaze snapped to look at her, Becca bit her lip. Uh oh.

"Well, well then – seeing as you two can't proffer some sort of remorse for your despicable before, perhaps we should find some other method to make you see sense. Detention after-school with Mr. Cahill - today 3:00 to 4:00 should do the trick. And let's hope that you learn some manners while you are at it." Miss Asuhara stated solemnly.

Before the redheads could say anything more, the strict headmistress then walked off with a swish of her pencil skirt, stalking towards the end of the corridor and turned to corner out of sight, leaving the two completely and utterly speechless.

Feeling a vein pulsate in her forehead, Becca drew in a huge breath and turned to Tala. "Excuse me a moment." She choked out stiffly, walking at high speed towards the girls loos. Completely bewildered, the tall male watched the slim girl wander calmly into the facility – completely unaware of what was about to happen.

Within moments, an almighty crash was heard – followed by a very loud screech.

"MOTHERFUCK!"

* * *

_**Piscesgirl09:** Hey hey peeps! New and improved chapter for you all to read - I'd thought on this occasion that I might actually change the title to what it is now - the previous one didn't really fit for me...or least not in my mind nowadays (Can't quite believe I actually used the previous title!)! Anyways, hope you all enjoy this one and keep up with the support - it's been immense and I really appreciate it :)_


	15. Just The Beginning

_**The following said story 'Love is like Fire...' is strictly property of Piscesgirl09©.**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check and Callum Fennel belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters.**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check and Callum Fennels auto biographies exclusively belong to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters auto biographies.**_

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I do not claim possession of any of the ideas put forward in the creation of Beyblade.**_

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* * *

It was afterschool, Becca and Tala had made their way to the gym for their detention. Becca was very irritable as she ripped off her school shirt and pulled on her sports t-shirt. Unknowingly to her, the shirt was now clinging to her sweat and fury as she marched out of the girl's room, highlighting her silhouette _perfectly…_

Tala just then stepped out of the changing room and nearly staggered as Becca rushed passed him in a flurry. Feeling a headache come on already, he scowled and quickly followed her. Mr Cahill was in the sports hall, waiting for them patiently. As soon as the pair of redheads entered the hall, the teacher had to swallow his laughter: there was a certain heat in the air – and it was funny to see the effect it was having on the arrogant youths.

Both of them were standing a bit too close to each other for it to be a 'comfortable' distance, and as they looked at each other – their gazes could not hide the smouldering fire behind them as they surveyed each other. "Well, well! Miss Howard - at yet another detention. And Mr Valkov too!" He clapped his hands as he looked from one to the other. Becca and Tala glared at Mr Cahill but said nothing – they were already fuming.

Mr Cahill gave a chuckle."Ok for your detention you have got to sort out the gym store of equipment. You may leave when you have finished after signing out." He instructed, flashing them both a teasing smile. Not having any of it, Becca rolled her eyes and yanked the keys from his hand to go and unlock the store.

Tala only watched after her as she kicked the door open and stormed in - he had to admit, her aggressive stance was more attractive than he had thought it would be. Noticing the way the Russian was staring after the slim girl, the sports teacher gave a knowing smile as he patted him on the shoulder. "Good luck Mr. Valkov." Mr Cahill suddenly said as he started to exit the hall.

"Why sir?" Tala replied looking confused, ripping his gaze away from Miss Howard to look irritably at the sports teacher. When it came down to it, the only reason the muscular red head was not ripping this guys head off was that he was trying to cover up for the fact that he couldn't keep his eyes of a certain pair of long, slim white legs...

"Because Miss Howarf here has a reputation for being one feisty little cat - trust me! Enough teachers have had experience with it since she's been here: not very pretty when she gets you, so mind her claws!" Mr Cahill warned as he left the room, enjoying watching Tala's reaction as he relayed the information.

As soon as Mr Cahill left the room, the wolfish young male felt that it was time to switch on the flirt mode. _A feisty little cat huh? Well, we will see what she's made of..._Tala thought smirking. This young male relished nothing more than a challenge - particularly like this gorgeous female he couldn't help eyeing up.

But it wasn't just the fact that her looks were just stunning - it was the chemistry between them. He had first noticed it when they played sport together that day, when he knew he was first to spot her - and first to claim her. Rumours already had it that Becca wasn't an easy ride; she didn't just have anyone. She too liked a challenge: and boy, oh boy! Hasn't she just got one.

Tala walked over to the store and looked inside, where Becca was furiously sorting through the equipment. Her flaming hair was already tossed wildly about her shoulders, her skin flushed slightly with anger. Immediately feeling that someone was watching her, Becca looked up and her narrowed emerald eyes met the icy blue of the Russian stood before her.

Sensing her displeasure, Tala thought it was best to try and clear things up before he dived in there and got it all thrown back in his face. "Sorry." Tala mumbled, shifting slightly to lean on the door. Snorting, the arrogant female tossed her head crossly and continued with her work. Not quite believing the reaction he got, the Russian frowned slightly as he walked towards her.

"D'you mind calming down a little?"

Becca turned to face Tala - looking livid. She just couldn't believe her ears - him, of all people, had just said that to her? And yet it was all his fault for getting them into this in the first place! She didn't ask to be tickled - despite whether she liked it or not. And the fact that she did like it was a problem enough already...especially as Anna had spotted it.

"SORRY? Calm down?" Becca screeched, her voice growing shrill as she stood to her full height before the muscular male. Then she hesitated a bit as she looked up at the fellow redhead: she had to admit, having Tala close was so delicious that she could almost taste it. But her thought pattern was then disturbed by her frustration and whether she wanted to or not, she needed to let it out somewhere.

As her eye's flashed, Becca put out a hand and roughly pushed the Russian away from her. Slightly surprised, Tala took a careful step back as the fiery girl advanced on him. "You wouldn't say 'calm down' if you were going to get a bollocking from Annastacia Moonshine - hell! You wouldn't last 5 fucking minutes with her, and all you can say is sorry?"

Feeling a pressure point pound in his forehead, Tala decided to hold his ground. "Jeez woman! Chill out! There's not much more I can say - what do you want me to do? Go up to her and give her hell? If you're that angry, why don't you just prove it? If Annastacia's that bad, why don't you just tell her?" He retorted, struggling to keep his eyes from straying to Becca's long, luscious legs.

_Man, she's hot..._Tala caught his breath. For once he just couldn't stop the thought running through his head – the tension in the atmosphere was just too much to bear. Anyone in their right mind wouldn't be able to not take advantage of the situation - the sight of Becca was always good, but being close enough to smell her was stirring him in a way he had never felt before about anyone.

"What the hell? Are you nuts? No, actually - you're just downright stupid! Even you of all people should know that you never, and I mean NEVER, talk to Anna like that without good reason. Unless you want a black eye for the rest of the month!" Becca exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips. Feeling his lips curve, Tala was beginning to see why the diva got so annoyed so often - like him, they were always second place to Anna or Kai. Overlooked constantly, and only acknowledged for the fact that they had to use their arrogance and looks to their advantage; or else they wouldn't even get a look in.

"And you can't throw a good enough punch back?" Tala smirked, knowing he'd hit the right buttons as he watched Becca's mouth snap shut and slowly disappear as her eyes narrowed to slits. One thing most people didn't do was to tell Becca Howard that she wasn't capable of defending herself: she had pride and she wasn't about to let it fall for anyone.

Not even someone like Tala, who knew her like he knew himself. "Shut up." She growled fiercely, taking a step closer to the Russian - making herself as threatening as she could manage.

Unable to resist it any longer, the redhead male took a step forward and virtually closed whatever space left between them. Gasping in surprise, Becca jumped and felt her back come up against the wall, scarily aware that the boy she was attracted to was pressed up close and personal against her body.

Yet, she was slowly feeling the walls crumble as she closed her eyes in a reverie of sensuality: his chest was broad and strong; the smell of his sweat arousing. On the other hand, Tala was also enjoying himself. Her body was everything that was promised from the outside: lithe, smooth. And as he watched her eyelids flutter shut with pure desire, he placed his hands on her hips.

"You were saying..." Tala whispered, knowing that she was close enough to get the message. Slowly opening her eyes, Becca looked up into Tala's pale face as the Russian waited for an answer. The flirtatious female slowly parted her lips and gave a small, seductive sigh as she slid up the hard body that was holding her in place and looked directly into his blue eyes.

Taking the opportunity,she placed her lips hard on his. Tala's eyes widened a bit as he felt the smooth, velvety feel of her mouth move onto his. But within seconds, his eyes closed as he rammed her up against the wall. He wanted to feel every inch of her on him.

He forced his tongue in Becca's mouth and moved his hands as he explored her waist and hips. The emerald eyed female moaned a bit when he massaged her tongue, unable to stop herself from letting go of any self control or dominance. She just wholly and purely loved the feel of Tala: how she would explain to Anna, she didn't know. But she wasn't about to stop and ask the questions - there was no doubt in her mind about how she felt. And she was quite sure Tala felt the same.

_Damn he's such a good kisser...he's making me melt..._Becca thought dreamily as Tala's hands started to move gently underneath the material of her t-shirt. Then the gym hall door creaked open and the pair stopped immediately. They looked at each other in horror as they heard a pair of boots stamp across the hall.

They quickly tried to move away from each other, but within in a moment there was Anna. Standing with her hands on her hips. If she was shocked by how close Tala was to Becca, the tomboy was hiding it very well. Becca felt herself cringe as she felt the brunette's eyes move around the pokey space - there was just no way either her or Tala could cover up what they had just done.

"Becca, a word please?" Anna said eventually after a few minutes, breaking the awkward silence. Nodding, Becca quickly stepped forward, tripping on some equipment as she went. Tala immediately went to help and as the two made physical contact again, you could see the sparks fly as their flesh connected.

Becca dared not look the fellow redhead in the face, for she knew that if she did - nothing would stop her pressing her lips against his again. As she looked up to meet Anna's gaze, the blue eyed girl raised an eyebrow and pushed herself off the door way where she had been leaning against. As she stood up, Tala bent his head to her ear.

"It'll be ok. I'll find you later." He whispered gently, his hand cup her chin as her emerald eyes met his once more. After a parting kiss, the slim female slipped away reluctantly from her lover's grip and made her way to follow her former team leader.

_Oh shit, shit, shit! _Becca thought panicked as she followed the tomboy into the girl's changing rooms; once they were there, the redhead nervously took a seat on one of the benches as she waited for the brunette to start talking. Well, she was expecting more to be shouted at.

"No point explaining yourself." Anna stated blankly, her face revealing neither irritation or disappointment. Becca felt herself flush – she knew by now that if the young Moonshine was still her captain, she would be chopped up, roasted and packed off to the Bahamas – figuratively of course.

"I'm sorry…" Becca mumbled as she watched the brunette's slightly tired face, before looking down at her feet. She knew that her former captain hadn't been very pleased recently with her behavioural conduct – and now she was beginning to realise that she was winding up her friend, instead of helping her during what must be a difficult time for the young Moonshine.

"I know I haven't been very forthcoming with what I've been doing recently – but just to let you know, I'm not going to give up my affections for Tala just because you don't believe in that stuff. And although understandably I'm being rebellious at the moment – which isn't always great – you can't say you haven't been doing it either. We're both irritating each other." The emerald eyed female continued, being very blunt and to the point.

The blue eyed female in the meantime did not change her expression at all– it was true. In some ways, Anna had taken some kind of amusement from winding her former teammate up – but most of the time, she only did it to make a point. Even though somewhere along the line, she didn't really know what point she was trying to make anymore.

Sighing, the brunette moved from leaning against the wall and sat on a bench opposite her companion. Looking at Becca directly in the eye, she began to speak.

"Whether you or I are right, I don't care at the moment. The facts of the matter are that you've taken my place as captain – that I respect. I've moved on, you've moved on." Anna paused for moment, rubbing her eyes with her hand.

"But what I want you to realise is that it isn't an easy job. You've watched me for years, and by the looks of it: you're trying to copy me. Well don't. The essence of leadership is to make your own impressions and have people meet your own standards. If you continually try to follow my footsteps, you might as well not be a captain."

Upon finishing, Becca felt herself swallow. It hurt to hear what the Moonshine had just said – but to some degree, she couldn't help but just allow it – because all of it was the truth. And at the end of the day, Anna did know best. Gathering her dignity together, the Snow Leopard bitbeast owner sat up straight.

"Then tell me one thing Anna: if you say to follow your example, how can I exactly do things my own way?" The emerald eyed Russian asked quietly, looking back at her former team captain.

Closing her eyes, the blue eyed female felt herself smile inwardly. Same old Becca – even though she claimed independence and wanted to be a leader, she could never detach herself from the brunette's good judgment. "I don't say to follow my example; I say to learn from it. Sometimes being a good team captain means you have to find your own way before finding the way for others." She answered softly.

Sensing that the conversation was now closed, the slim redhead nodded and got up to leave the changing room. Just as she approached the door, she took a moment to glance back at her friend. What always made her feel sad was that there wasn't much she could do to help Anna – it was times like this when she could leave her all alone, and weep with the knowledge that the young Moonshine remained the lonely one.

As soon as Becca had left, the tomboy sighed and leant her head against the wall of the changing room, watching the lights above her flicker as her eyelids started to slide shut. As she felt herself drift into a daydream, her thoughts as ever went back to Kai – and how it all started between them. _Another memory…_

* * *

_It was when Anna and Kai were 13. Anna, her father, sister and Kai were due to travel to Japan by ship. It was 2 weeks before they were about to leave, and Anna was leaving Jake behind in she was glad she was – the past week had proven to her why her love and trust had been misplaced._

_"Anna." Jake called stiffly from outside her room at the hotel as he knocked quickly on the door. After last night's antics, he was feeling quite hung-over and the memories of what happened were few and far between to say the least. Though one particular episode of the evening would soon leave a sour taste in the mouth._

_The then younger tomboy then was getting her stuff ready to leave, her hair flying loose about her shoulders as her baggy tank top and shorts hung from her slim body. "Yeah?"She replied as she finished dressing, pulling a pair of long socks and converse on her feet._

_Jake took a deep breath. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" He finally asked. Stopping a moment, the brunette spotted her reflection in the mirror – her pale skin had a healthy pink flush; her blue eyes sparkling with irritation._

_Although she wanted to be fair, what her golden haired male had done last night…she couldn't bear to think of it without wanting to open the door and rip his head off. "Ok." Anna called back, walking over to the door and opening it. Sure as she suspected, there was Jacob Baldwin, looking bedraggled with his eyes bloodshot and hair sticking up at all ends._

_Raising an eyebrow, the tomboy leant against the door frame and waited for the boy to speak. "Can I come in?" The golden haired male asked cautiously, his flicking around as he watched the brunette's hard stare. Grunting, she pushed herself off and kicked the door open to let him in, walking back towards her packing._

"_Anna…" Jake started, watching the blue eyed female continue to fold her clothes and arrange everything quickly and neatly into her travel bags. Although she was listening, it felt like her name was being called from miles away – she just couldn't focus objectively about the whole situation. If only Kai was here…_

"_What?" She answered back sharply, her eyes narrowing as she looked up at the boy she once loved – though she wasn't sure whether she had done in the first place. Feeling her anger boil underneath her skin, she stood tall and glared at him. "Get to the point: what the hell do you want? Or are you here to tell me what I already know is true?"_

_The lead singer of Total Eclipse could see he was trapped: of course Annastacia Moonshine would know what he had been up to – she was not only too intelligent for him, but she had her sources virtually everywhere. Not many people she knew could hide from her dark eyes._

"_Seriously Anna, c'mon! It's not like I actually went out to do it intentionally – it was an __**accident**__! Alcohol; drugs – you get that right?" He bit back, feeling his own aggression take over – one thing he had never always gotten a hold of was humility. As much as he had felt something for the tomboy, somehow over the time recently, it seemed that whatever they had between them had died._

"_Oh right – I see! You tell me that you want to try this out, and expect me to sit back and watch you fuck around with any female you get your hands on? Oh yeah – but I was forgtting! Of course, that's exactly what I'm here for: to be for fucking play toy when you feel like it!" The brunette suddenly raised her voice, gradually getting louder – the fact that she was now swearing at anyone in sight was enough to shock the golden eyed male._

_Not even attempting to control herself, Anna marched over to Jake and got right in his face, causing him to stumble backwards to the floor – for the first time, he could see why the young Moonshine was dangerous. The way her face was lit up with such fire was incredibly frightening._

"_Anna –"_

"_No, I will not listen to you! You have no idea how ashamed I was to even know you when I heard what you did – and don't blame the alcohol or whatever shit you took last night – you took the fucking decision to take them and now you need to take the consequences!" The blue eyed female roared._

_Unable to take it any longer, the elder male suddenly leapt up and tackled her to the ground – he too had a temper which wasn't even nearly as controlled as Anna's was. As he lay on top of her, both of them could see the fury in their eyes. "So you want a taste, do you? Must've been missing me a lot to get so upset over me 'fucking around' – hm?" He hissed in her ear._

_And in that moment, the brunette felt her power – it was something so deadly in the pit of her stomach that once harnessed - would have devastating consequences. Realising what he said and the look that passed across the girl's face, the golden haired male frantically started to move away from her as he watched her bright blue eyes glint._

_**SMACK!**__ The tomboy's fist met with the Total Eclipse leader's face and sent him flying. The punch had been so powerful that his jaw rattled and his nose started to spurt with blood as he clutched his face._

_For a moment time stood still as the two former lovers watched each other – one was sat quaking with fear, waiting for the next blow. But the other couldn't move: having seen that one of her softer hits had made such an impact had stunned her. In truth, she often refused to resort to violence, even in the most pressing circumstances__**. **__Because this was the result._

_A bang came from the door, and in came Kai. Upon seeing Jake on the floor and Anna completely stunned, it didn't take long for him to work out what had happened. "Anna?" The bluenette murmured, striding over to his best friend._

_Turning her head, the young Moonshine allowed herself to be pulled into the Russian's arms and felt her eyes close as she felt a wave of hurt wash through her. "Here comes the Prince Charming then – happy now?" A bitter voice came from the other side of the room. Jake was now standing, watching the two with darkened eyes._

_Anna raised her head rigidly, proudly from where it had been resting on the Phoenix blader's chest and walked towards the golden eyed male. Standing fearlessly before him, she looked him in the eye. "Get out. Get out now. And stay out – I never want to see you again." She said quietly, her voice laced with venom._

_Shaken by her cold response, the Total Eclipse leader picked himself up with the remnants of his dignity and swiftly left the room. As the door banged shut once more, the tomboy turned slowly back to Kai and watched him. Unfolding his muscled arms, the bluenette walked over and cupped her face._

"_Did you really love him?" He asked her quietly, his amethyst eyes staring into her blue orbs. Her dark eyelashes swept her pale cheeks as she blinked, leaning forward to wrap her arms tightly around his waist – what would she do without him? She could never bear the thought._

"_No. He may have stirred my senses and made me feel good for a bit. But in reality, I never really loved him – what we had died quickly and it dies with a harsh lesson learnt. Yet…my heart isn't broken." Anna replied softly, feeling her friend's arms slowly wrap round her and keeping her safe. There was that warmth again that flooded through her veins at the physical contact._

_It was like what she had been feeling for over a year – Jake granted had been able to touch her and gain some sort of response. But nothing like the Russian had always been to do, which was to make her feel like she was alive – gloriously and utterly alive._

_And the same had been happening for Kai: watching his best friend develop a relationship with some other guy had left him feeling strangely bereft a lot of the time. He too would feel like the young Moonshine's touch would be enough spark something deep inside him that he would then crave to feel again when she let him go._

_Swallowing, he held her tighter and rocked her – as his warm breath brushed against her cheek, the brunette sighed and nestled into him completely. In her mind, a million and one worries would always be flying around – but the one that sprung to mind was the possibility if she did feel something more for the Phoenix…because if she did, there would be one person in her way to getting to that freedom to love._

* * *

**_Piscesgirl09:_**_ Yo peeps! New and improved chapter (again) which has been thoroughly spell checked and proof read - so hopefully there isn't anymore rather *ahem* dreadful grammar mistakes...! Hopefully I'll be doing some more of that on the rest of my chapters, so keep your eyes peeled for the changes =) Thanks for reading!_


	16. When We Stand Together

_**The following said story 'Love is like Fire...' is strictly property of Piscesgirl09©.**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check, Callum Fennel, Elizabeth Moonshine and Thomas Moonshine belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters.  
**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check, Callum Fennel, Elizabeth Mooonshine and Thomas Moonshine's auto biographies exclusively belong to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters auto biographies.  
**_

_**The storyline of the story 'Love is like Fire…' belongs exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of this very storyline.  
The ideas put forward to the creation of 'Love is like Fire…' belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very ideas. **_

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I do not claim possession of any of the individuals of Beyblade auto biographies.  
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* * *

Steph was waiting the same afternoon at the cafe for Spencer. _Why does he make me so nervous? It's just one date... _Steph thought as she fidgeted again in her seat. The blond haired Blitzkrieg Boy just had a way of making her feel fidgety – it was the first time in a long time that she had found someone else who made her confidence dissolve away like sugar in water, leaving her completely open for him to see. Usually she was always very imposing on the males around her. Not the other way round.

The aqua eyed female then felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She had to suppress a chuckle as it must've been the umpteenth time she had received a message. Word had gotten out amongst all of the female bladers that the Sea Snake blader had a date after school. Flipping her phone open she began to read the messages one by one:

_**Message 1 – Elle:**__ Hello my girl! Can't believe it – both of us with dates? Anna would be so proud ~_^ Must, must, must tell me details later! Enjoy yourself my lovely! Lots of love xxxxxxx_

_**Message 2 – Rachel:**__ OMG You have a date?! Wow, hope it goes great gal! Get all the girls together later for a catch up :D :D :D Love, love and more love xxxxxxxxxx_

_**Message 3 – Becca:**__ So when was I gonna hear this juicy bit of news, huh? Keep it cool girl – though might get a bit difficult if things get steamy later ;) Go get him! See you later xx_

_**Message 4 – Mariah:**__ Hey! You and Spencer together – that is SO cute! Ok, so remember, keep smiling, and you can borrow my cherry gloss with the gold bag! Looking good already gorgeous :P xxxxxx_

_**Message 5 – Katie:**__ You could always use that punch I taught you a week back, though something tells me you won't be needing it – I'm sure you've got some other moves to use ;) Haha Hope all goes well x_

_**Message 6 – Hilary:**__ So it wasn't just homework you were talking about in Chemistry today then :P Just be yourself – he seems to like you enough already! Can't wait to talk later xxx_

_**Message 7 – Julia:**__ Here's a way to say how you feel: Te quiero - I'm sure he'll work it out eventually haha Enjoy the wild life girl x_

_**Message 8 – Emily:**__ Nice date! Keep him talking – though I doubt either of you will run out of things to say :) Good luck (not that you'll need it – but oh well!) x_

_**Message 9 – Mathilda:**__ Aw wow! First week at school together and already dating? Sure didn't take your time over it =) Enjoy yourselves – can't wait to hear what happened! Xxx_

_**Message 10 – Mariam:**__ Hot date, huh? Looks like things could get a bit hot here ;) Might I suggest the gold earrings and dolly shoes? They go gorgeously with your outfit – but then you already looked fabulous anyway! Have a lush time xxxx_

_**Message 11 – Salima:**__ I feel sorry for the guy – he's not gonna be able to take his eyes of you today hun :D Sweet times girl, enjoy it! Talk later xxx_

_**Message 12 – Abi:**__ Glad you've found a great guy, hun! You really deserve it :) Why don't you try the new café opening in town? I heard they do some awesome coffees! Tell me how it goes – I'll be waiting! Hope you (and him) have a lovely time x_

_**Message 13 – Anna:**__ Make sure he knows the boundaries – you both have school tomorrow. Also make sure he walks you home, and either one of you contact me when you get there. Let me know if you need anything._

Steph smiled at Anna's message: always blunt and to the point as ever, the young Moonshine didn't beat around the bush when letting people know what needed to be done.

But whilst the tone was brusque, the spiky blond haired female could really tell that the brunette was looking out for her. It was great that the rest of her friends wanted to give her fashion advice and dating tips – of course, she was a female and liked to look dressed up occasionally. Yet she felt secure knowing that the tomboy would be waiting for her at the end of it to see her safely home.

Though the thought also saddened her – it was always the brunette who was in the background, making sure everything was arranged and working properly. And now that they were older and moving on, she wasn't there to do it anymore. Being 18 came with responsibilities, and the Sea Snake blader had to admit that when her former team leader left - the shock of how much hard work and effort that had to be put in everyday was something she could now understand why her friend got so bitter about.

Spencer then came in, scanning the cafe to find the girl he was looking for - when he spotted the aqua eyed female, he smiled before slowly making his way over sit at the table opposite her. "Hey Steph." Spencer said, startling Steph out of her thoughts. As she looked up to meet the now friendly eyes of the blond Blitzkrieg Boy, she returned the smile with a splash of pink on her cheeks.

"Hey. Heard you got absolutely slaughtered in History today by Anna." The spiky blond haired female greeted him in teasing voice - the Whale blader gave a sheepish grin as they both chuckled together. It wasn't a surprise that the news got round quickly: usually when it involved the young Moonshine and someone in heated competition - it was always going to be the 'hot gossip' of the town.

"Oh yeah. Your little friend has got some balls on her - quite impressive actually." Spencer replied a little humbly, recalling how he couldn't help but admire how the tomboy refused to let the challenge go. Even though it meant that in the long run, he had been almost humiliated in front of all of his classmates. Yet he kind of expected that he was probably going to lose anyway - Anna was not a challenge herself to be ever taken lightly.

Steph laughed as she flashed him a small smile. "I wouldn't worry about it - the first time I tried that, my friends and anyone else who knew me wouldn't let me live it down for the next month. Pretty much everyone who has challenged her so far has learned fast that if you haven't got it - don't bother. She _will_ put you to shame." She said, a hint of fondness creeping its way into her voice; as much as she found some of her former team leader's ways perhaps slightly harsh, she knew that for some of the arseholes out there - it wouldn't hurt for them to learn a bit of humility in the face of someone who knew a lot better than they did.

"I take it since then you haven't tried to do that again without making sure you know what you're talking about?" The blond Blitzkrieg boy commented slyly, a smirk playing on his lips as he looked up and down her slightly red face. Smiling back sheepishly, the Sea Snake blader stuck her tongue out at him and sipped her slush puppy. Spencer noticed the drink and raised an eyebrow. _Man it's been a while since I've had one of those..._

Catching his stare, the silvery eyed female felt her cheeks heat up even more as she didn't know whether to ditch the drink or keep it cool. _Ok awkward! Why didn't I choose something more sophisticated? Now he's gonna think I'm a complete goon...oh great! Now I'm using some of Anna's words as well - what the hell is happening to me?!_Steph thought in a panic as she mentally slapped herself, cringing as she watched her date continuing to stare in wonder at the kiddie's drink.

Not quite meeting his eye, she swallowed and tried to break the awkward silence. "Um, the slush puppies were on sale...a-and I haven't had one in ages" Steph blushed profusely as she dropped her gaze and could no longer stop all the blood in her body rushing to her face. Saving her embarrassment, Spencer grinned as he reached and grabbed the drink to inspect.

"Don't worry, I haven't had one in ages either - I quite like them." He said sheepishly, his voice fading into a mumble as too started to feel slightly embarrassed. _Nice one Spencer...maturity really looks like your strong point now... _The Whale blader too mentally gave himself a beating, hastily putting the drink back where it originally sat as he too dropped his gaze.

Hearing that she wasn't alone in liking the kiddie's drink, the spiky blond haired female couldn't stop a small smile springing to her face as she finally managed to kick-start a conversation. "Seriously? Wow, at least someone else likes them too occasionally - most of my friends drink tea or coffee nowadays." Steph looked genuinely surprised as she watched the blond haired Blitzkrieg boy raise his head with a slightly confused look on his face.

"Honestly! The only person who ever has slush puppies with me is Anna - and that is so rare in this day and age: I'm glad I've found someone who likes them as much as well!" The Sea Snake blader explained, a slight shade of pink still standing out in her pale cheeks as she regarded the male sat in front of her through her light lashes.

The blond Blitzkrieg Boy on the other had to really bite his tongue to stop himself from laughing - when he heard that the young Moonshine was also a bit of a fan of slush puppies, it was not only unexpected but ever so slightly weird. From what he'd to when he first met her properly that day, he got the impression that she wasn't one for making a baby of herself in public.

"Will wonders never cease – Annastacia Moonshine actually likes a kiddies drink." Spencer shared a cheeky grin with his date as she gave a chuckle – she liked the guy. She really did! He didn't tit arse about trying to impress her with big words and actions; he just talked to her like a normal human being. She was also secretly enjoying taking the mickey out of her former teammate for once without being chided!

"Our little secret." Tapping her nose, the aqua eyed female gave a coy smile as she looked towards the bar, where a young male bartender was looking permanently bored with what he was doing. Smirking, the couple got up from their table and went over to the counter before either of them changed their mind.

* * *

"Oh. My. Goodness! The look on that guys face – I wish I had a camera with me!" Steph and Spencer were walking down the street, struggling once again this afternoon to contain their laughter – the pair had decided to give the bartender something to do by ordering 10 slush puppies each for them to drink, as well as for the own amusement. As expected, the bartender's reaction had been priceless.

"We should do something like that again – it's not very often Tala or Kai let us do anything fun like that." The Whale blader calmed himself down, flashing the spiky blond haired female a smile as he nudged her gently, taking her hand without even thinking about it. Looking down at where her smaller hand was enclosed in his larger one, the young woman blushed slightly whilst looking away.

"Steph."

The pair looked forward to see Cal stood there in front of them, his expression blank as he took in the scene in front of him. Miss Banks felt her jaw tighten as she looked at her ex-boyfriend, wondering whether he was here to cause trouble or something else that she really didn't want to know about. "Cal." She replied coolly, her silvery blue eyes staring through her light lashes as she watched him shift in an almost nervous fashion.

"How are you?" The taller male asked politely, sparing a glance for the blond Blitzkrieg Boy who was looking at him with an air that was less than welcoming. For a moment, Steph was completely stunned – despite the fact that she had given him such a bollocking all those years ago, he had come back to her and appeared to be trying to rekindle something in a different way – friendship maybe? But whichever way it was, she felt kind of glad that he had made the effort.

"I'm good. And how are you?" The spiky blond haired female gave her ex-boyfriend a small smile – now was the time to forget whatever happened in the past, she thought. There was no point dwelling on what could've been or what should've been said. At the moment, Spencer was the most important to her, other than her family and friends: with him by her side, she couldn't help but want to settle things once and for all with the Total Eclipse drummer.

The blond haired male returned the smile slightly, his lips quirking upwards in a way that reminded the Sea Snake blader of the guy she had seen behind whatever anyone else would see upfront. "I'm alright." He replied with a nod of his head, his eyes once again straying to where the Whale blader was stood nearby, looking at him uncertainly. Spotting the tension between the two, the silvery eyed female stepped in and decided to introduce them.

"Cal, I would like you to meet Spencer – Spencer, this is Cal, an old friend of mine." She said softly, earning another fond smile from her ex-boyfriend. Now seeing that there was no threat to his position and his date wasn't in any distress, the blond Blitzkrieg Boy gave a nod as he extended his hand – returning the gesture, the two males briefly shook hands and all was settled on that matter. Steph then went back to stand by her partner, who without even thinking about it put his arm around her waist.

"I'll see you around, Cal. It's…good to see you again." She said with genuine sincerity, smiling gently up at the Whale blader who squeezed her – it was good to have sorted things where her previous relationships were concerned. But now was not the time: she had someone else now to think of – this was her time to finally settle down with someone she already trusted as a partner.

Seeing that it was now time to go, Cal nodded his acknowledgement. "See you around. Take care." He replied quietly, turning away with peaceful grace in the relief that the ex-couple no longer were at each other's necks anymore. They could both finally move on. And both of them knew that they wished the best for one another with whoever else they find – from the looks of the cosiness between the blond pair of bladers, the Total Eclipse drummer felt himself smile at the evident relationship that was forming beautifully.

Spencer watched the taller blond male walk away and turned his head to look down at the spiky blond haired female sitting comfortably in his grip, a question lingering in his eyes. "Cal was once something to me…it didn't work out. This is the first time we've spoken on even terms since we split up 3 years ago." She murmured, her tone perhaps slightly regretful. But pushing that aside, she looked at him properly and smiled, her hand straying upwards to cup the tilt of his chin. Her fingers slowly trailed down his jaw towards his collarbone, their eyes connecting intimately as everything stayed still for a moment.

There was a silence.

"Let's go for a walk down the park. I heard there's some good beyblading going on down there. And I haven't had a battle from you yet." Spencer suddenly suggested, a smirk making its way to his handsome face. Steph was faintly surprised, but nevertheless returned the offer with an equally challenging smirk. Now a beybattle certainly sounded like a fun ending to one of the best dates she'd ever had!

"You're on."

Before long, the couple were walking hand-in-hand towards the local park, where lots of young children were playing, laughing and screaming as they ran about the place. Then there was the familiar sound of crashing metal as their gazes wondered to a few beydishes that were currently surrounded by swarms of cheering youngsters. "Looks like the kiddies are giving it some – this is some really good stuff! I never used to be this good when I was learning!" The silvery eyed female commented, smiling as she folded her arms across her chest.

Returning the smile, the blond Blitzkrieg Boy sneaked his arm around her waist to pull her to him. Feeling comfortable, the spiky blond haired female nestled into him and allowed his chin to rest on top of her head as they watched the children continuing to battle it out.

"Hey! Stop that – leave me alone!" A small voice cried from behind them.

The Whale blader looked appreciatively as the Sea Snake blader marched over to the bullies, who were clearly picking on a kid younger and smaller than themselves in attempt to be the big fish in the small pond. One thing she just would not tolerate was cowardice: having been bullied herself as a young child, she never sat back and let it happen to others – no matter how old they were. She remembered often when she would do so, the Stardust Girls were always there to back her up. Even if the bullies were bigger and more frightening than they were.

"HEY! You guys heard him – leave him alone! What on earth did he ever do to you to deserve that?" Steph barked at the bullies as she quickly strode over towards the group of boys, moving stand beside the young boy, who was looking up at her with shock and awe shining in his face. The bullies looked uncertain at being approached by a large sort of woman like Steph: they knew you would have to be a fool not to know who Miss Banks was – if one thing the Stardust Girls were famous for, it was their tenacity. And the thought of having to possibly face the repercussions in the form of Annastasia Moonshine was almost a fate worse than death.

But even so, one of them seemed to have the balls to answer back. He was clearly the eldest of the group, the 'alpha male' as it were – though he couldn't have been more than 12 years old. The rest of them whilst they weren't as tough, looked just as thuggish. No wonder this poor little boy was terrified! And the spiky blond haired female wasn't about to let that slide without a fight. "Teaching this little wimp how to beyblade." He spoke up boldly.

Spencer almost felt his jaw drop: he had NEVER heard anyone speak to Steph like that yet – and judging by the way her eyes narrowed, it definitely was not the done thing – particularly coming from a kid. "Excuse me? THAT is no way to teach people how to beyblade. It takes time, dedication, perseverance and passion to become the best you can be; not through beating other people to humiliate them for their weaknesses. Who do you guys think you are?" The young woman exclaimed indignantly, now towering over the bullies in her temper. By now, most of the bullies were starting to look ashamed of themselves at least, if not looking very nervous - only the eldest still had some bottle in him.

"Ok then prove it! I challenge you to a beybattle; when I beat you, you'll remember me as Wayne – do you accept my challenge?" The now named boy spoke up, looking proud of his speech in the vain hope that his words would have any effect on his new opponent. But when the Sea Snake blader threw back her head and laughed, he scowled – already people were staring at the commotion, and to have high profile individual such as the blond Stardust Girl laugh at him was the nearly the highlight of his humiliation.

"Do you seriously expect me to accept such a challenge? I could smash your beyblade to pieces easily – what makes you think I would want to waste my time doing that?" Steph was sniggering away, though her eyes were now hardened with irritation – why was it whenever she wanted just one date to go right, it would always have some interruption? The last thing she needed was some snotnose little git like Wayne giving her grief.

"Oh yeah – I know you could smash my beyblade to pieces – with your fat ass." Wayne answered back defiantly, smirking as he let the words sink in. Everyone gasped as the whole atmosphere came to a standstill: had this kid really just back chatted one of the Stardust Girls? Most were beginning to think he was either mad or just downright stupid – because judging by the look on Spencer's face, he was ready to pummel the 12 year old to a pulp.

The spiky blond haired female blinked. Now she wasn't one to let people's comments get to her, but this time her care less attitude didn't stop the wrenching in her gut. Years ago, she had been having trouble with her self image; at one point it had gotten so bad that she became bulimic and the Stardust Girls had been so worried about her. The memory of Anna bursting in on her whilst forcing herself to vomit her guts left a very sour taste in her mouth…

* * *

_She always remembered how her heart sank when she saw the severe look on her team leader's face, her cheeks burning with shame at her secret being exposed. "What the fucking hell are you doing?!" The12 year old tomboy demanded, a rare glimpse of a roaring fire in her eye as she stepped forward over her. The silvery eyed female looked helplessly at the soiled toilet bowl, unable to at least stammer an answer._

_Before anything else was said, the petite female marched forward and grabbed the larger female by the arm, dragging her with all the force she could muster and throwing her back into the bedroom whilst towering over her like a guardian angel. The Sea Snake blader could herself whimpering as she pulled her weakened body up from the floor, tears of despair welling up in her eyes._

"_Look at me, Steph." The blue eyed female's voice came from the side of her, unusually soft as she felt a sturdy hand being placed on her shoulder. Slowly lifting her eyes, the eldest Stardust Girl turned to meet the sincere eyes of her team captain. They were now looking at her with something that was close to sympathy as the iciness melted within the dark orbs, leaving them looking like the ripples of an ocean during a storm._

_Before she knew it, Steph had tears running endlessly down her face as little sobs escaped her lips and she buried her face in her hands. The Winged Unicorn blader sat there and waited, letting her teammate cry into her shirt. "Why are you doing this to yourself, Steph?" She asked quietly, her eyes staring into the dark corners of the room as the only light shining in the room were rays of orange sunshine where the sunset outside was now sinking on the horizon._

"_B-b-b-because I can n-n-never be like the rest of you g-girls – smaller, slimmer, __**prettier**__. I look like a guy! I'm as tall as one my chest is like a shelf, and I have huge thighs, arms, feet: how can anyone find that attractive? All everyone sees is a huge woman who could pass for a rugby player." The spiky blond haired female stuttered uncontrollably, her sobs now subsiding as she slid into a bitter state of melancholy, her misery taking over._

_The young Moonshine said nothing. Nudging the silvery eyed female sat next to her, she showed them both to the dressing table, where only one mirror sat glinting in the light. Sitting the larger female down the seat, she stood behind her and looked into the mirror. Both girls stared at it, a moment of miserable silence falling upon them._

"_Do you know what I see?" Anna finally murmured, her dark lashes sweeping her pale cheeks as she looked down at the blond Stardust Girl for a moment before looking back the silver reflector. The Sea Snake blader shook her head sadly as she looked at herself – God she looked a sight! Hair stuck up at all angles; skin blotchy from tears soaked up in the pores; eyes red from the despair she couldn't help herself out of. She then felt her team captain lean down to put her head next to hers._

"_At the moment, I see a girl who is lost." The tomboy started, watching as Steph's bottom lip trembled, before bringing a hand towards her face. "But when we dry away these tears…" She wiped the liquid residue from her delicate skin of her cheeks. "And bring the corners of these lips up…" She watched as her friend's expression slowly light up as her mouth curved upwards. "I see a very beautiful, honest, dependable and caring young girl who – when she smiles like that and looks them in the eye – is more than capable of attracting any guy she wants. All she has to believe is that no matter what anyone else thinks: she is someone whose beauty is not just skin deep – it's there in the consideration and the care she has for herself as well as other people." _

_The blue eye female may have spoken quietly, but her words had been like the torch that the spiky blond haired female needed whilst wondering in the dark. She would never have handed it to the petite female, but she really did seem to just know what it all felt like – and instead of trying to understand it, she was just being the friend that deep down was the one that so many people could rely on._

_The pair of females sat there for a moment, staring at each other through the mirror. "Thank you." The silvery eyed female suddenly said, her light lashes now shining with the wetness that now clung to them. The brunette did not reply; she merely gave another sweep of her dark eyes before patting her teammate on the shoulder and moving away from the dressing table._

"_Anna?" The Sea Snake blader called to her team captain, though never turning in her seat and remained looking at her reflection. She could hear the Winged Unicorn blader had stopped moving, clearly waiting for the question to follow. "…Do you think it'll get better?" She continued, another tear leaking out from the corner of her eye._

_There was a sigh as another silence hung in the air. "Only if you make it so." Was the reply that came – as the eldest Stardust Girl turned to talk, she found herself facing an open door. The young Moonshine had left as though she had never been there. And all Steph could do was look out at the sunset and smile, the words ringing her head as she thought how lucky she was to have Anna._

_**All she has to believe is that no matter what anyone else thinks: she is someone whose beauty is not just skin deep – it's there in the consideration and the care she has for herself as well as other people…**_

* * *

"I won't accept your challenge Wayne. But let me tell you something," Steph looked directly at the young boy, her expression slightly angry as she stared at him through her bright silvery eyes, "It's true – my size as woman is not the average. I am larger than what most females would expect in this world: but I'm not ashamed of that – I had those days years ago. Guys like you who think they can put people down for things that they can't help? They aren't worth the effort – so I don't have to prove anything to you. Now get lost."

Turning away, the spiky blond eyed female walked back towards her date, who was looking at her with a mixture of confusion and awe as she returned the gaze with a serious expression. Just behind her, a very furious young boy loaded his launcher and aimed upwards – directly towards the eldest Stardust Girl's head. "STEPH, LOOK OUT!" Spencer yelled, starting to move towards her.

Feeling her heart stop momentarily, the silvery eyed female tried to turn quickly on her heel and upon looking around her shoulder, she could see the flash of metal that was released from Wayne's launcher – flying straight towards her. Unable to move away fast enough, she stood there waiting for the blow…bringing her arms up to block her face…the blond Blitzkrieg Boy was running towards her…

CRASH! The beyblade was knocked away just inches from her face – the Sea Snake blader blinked rapidly as her heart started hammering its way back to life as it thump in her chest. Spinning on the ground in front of her was a very familiar looking grey gold and orange beyblade. Looking to her right, she spotted a very angry looking raven haired female stood there with her launcher extended in front of her.

"Elle?!" Steph gasped, her breath hoarse as she felt the Whale blader come up behind her, wrapping his arms around her protectively as he dragged her away from the battle ground. The Spanish girl's gaze remained unwaveringly fixed on the 12 year old who had instigated the battle, her bright amber eyes burning with rage.

"You pick a fight with my friend, you pick a fight with me. You want a battle? You can face me." She declared boldly, ignoring the look of shock on Bryan's face as he stood behind her, looking distinctly uncomfortable with the events that were clearly about to unfold. The two Blitzkrieg Boys exchanged a grim look as they spotted the Bladebreakers and the White Tigers running towards them.

"Hey Bryan! Spencer! What did we miss?!" Tyson exclaimed as he came forward, along with the rest of the beybladers – by now, all of them were looking between at a slightly traumatised Steph and the cocky, arrogant young Wayne who was standing there with a smirk of his face.

"That little fucker is what happened – he tried to attack Steph and now he's going for Elle." Spencer snarled aggressively, throwing the younger male a filthy look as he gripped the spiky blond haired female tighter in his arms. A look of disbelief came from all eyes of the two teams, clearly outraged with what they had just heard – it was one thing when an opponent of their own standards presented them with such a challenge – but from a teenage boy who had virtually no skill whatsoever? It was ludicrous!

"WHAT THE FUCK'S GOING ON?" A female voice screeched. Kenny felt himself gulp with fear as he watched the rest of his friend's faces change apprehensively at the recognition of that very familiar voice, that was now shrill with irritation. It was Becca.

* * *

_**Piscesgirl09/xXxCometxXx:** Hey, hey peeps! Another new and improved chapter for this story - please note that the next chapter (which is still the original version) probably won't make much sense until I have time to edit that one so it fits with this one! But anyhow, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and stay tuned for some more improvements as well as any new chapters =) Cheers!_


	17. The Moonlight Blader

_**The following said story 'Love is like Fire...' is strictly property of Piscesgirl09©.**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check, Callum Fennel, Elizabeth Moonshine and Thomas Moonshine belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters.  
**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check, Callum Fennel, Elizabeth Mooonshine and Thomas Moonshine's auto biographies exclusively belong to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters auto biographies.  
**_

_**The storyline of the story 'Love is like Fire…' belongs exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of this very storyline.  
The ideas put forward to the creation of 'Love is like Fire…' belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very ideas. **_

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I do not claim possession of any individuals of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the individuals of Beyblade auto biographies.  
I do not claim possession of any of the original storyline of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the ideas put forward in the creation of Beyblade.**_

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_**Thank you for your co-operation.**_

* * *

Every single pair of eyes went to stare at the fuming redhead. Becca had her hands on her hips and was staring furiously at everyone there – mainly the pair of beybladers who were just warming up for a battle. Tala was behind her with a face of awe: as ever, the emerald eyed female's temper had not ceased to amaze him. Elle's and Wayne's blades collided head on and before they knew it, the spinning tops returned swiftly back to their hands. The Spanish female turned to her redhead teammate and glared at her.

"Becca! I'm a little busy here if you don't mind!" She exclaimed in an exasperated manner, looking annoyed at having been interrupted in trying to teach this impudent 12 year old a lesson not only in beyblading, but having respect for other people instead of treating everyone as though they were dirt he'd just trodden on. Plus also, she really didn't need the bossy Russian girl sticking her nose in and trying to call the shots – after all, she had no idea how this even happened.

"Oh clearly! Trying to have a battle with a 12 year old: what the hell is that all about? I thought you were better than this!" The Snow Leopard blader snapped back irritably, wondering why she ever bothered with such pettiness – although it was slightly ironic coming from her, who was more prone to retaliating than any of the members of the Stardust Girls. But then she had her team's reputation to think about – good God, what would Anna say if she were here right now…

"Try telling that to this little shit – he just tried to attack Steph – and you think that I'm just going to stand there and take it?! Whatever happened to this team's sense of support? Or are you and your boyfriend too bloody important for that?!" The Spanish female snapped back venomously, her teeth grinding hard as she struggled to control her temper – first her date had been interrupted; her team captain was now giving her grief; everyone was staring at the two females like they were two wild cats. Fuck that for a game of soldiers – she'd had enough!

The emerald eyed female's cool rapidly dropped and she began to march forward towards her team mate. "Don't fucking bring my relationship into this – you're the one who decided to interfere – not me!" She yelled, her face now as red as her hair as her body lit up under the glow of the afternoon sun. Throwing her launcher at Bryan, the raven haired female also marched forwards so the two Stardust Girls were now right in each other's faces.

Seeing a fight brewing, Steph frowned and starting moving towards the pair of girls. "Girls! We're in a public area – c'mon! Grow up!" She started firmly, moving place a hand on the Russian female's shoulder – only to have it promptly scratched and slapped away by a hand with very sharp and dangerous nails, leaving a bloody trail as cuts were formed on the pale bit of flesh. Yelping, the spiky blond haired female growled at her fellow team mate, clutching her now bleeding hand as she stared at her in disbelief – what the hell?!

"Don't fucking tell me to grow up!" Becca snarled viciously at the older girl, bringing her hand up like a cat spreading its claws. By now the rest of the males watching gulped as the group of females were getting aggressive: sure they knew they were all highly strung girls – but the way this was going, this wasn't just going to be a verbal battle! Elle glared as she walked over and slapped her team captain clear across the face.

A resounding gasp went across the park as everyone felt dread fall upon the atmosphere. The redhead eyes were now dangerously flashing as she suddenly leapt forward and started attacking the smaller girl – naturally, the golden eyed female responded immediately, and before everyone knew it, the two were scratching, punching, slapping and tearing each to pieces. Feeling her face go red, the silvery eyed female tried to pull the two apart, but with little success as she was pushed to one side.

"HEY!"

Soon shouting and screeching filled the air as blurs of colour dashed forward before the boys had a chance to blink: Rachel, Hilary, Mariah, Emily, Julia and Mariam were now running forward to go and join the battle, like the eldest Stardust Girl trying to pull the two European females apart as they continued to go for each other – completely oblivious to what was going on around them. Mariah managed to grab some of the emerald eyed female's hair whilst Hilary and Emily tried to hold onto her arms; Julia and Mariam were trying hold the Spanish female's clothes in an attempt to yank her away, Rachel trying to soothe the girl with some form of calm words.

Then one of the Snow Leopard blader's hands struck out and caught the pink haired girl right in the face, scratching her cheek with her deadly nails. This then started a fight with the Chinese and the Russian, becoming even more aggressive than they already were – and the chain reaction began, when each female was struck, so did even more disaster. First was the brunette Bladebreaker when receiving a punch in the face; the curly blonde haired Stardust girl starting shouting and screaming when someone tried to grab her throat; Mariam soon followed when the Eagle blader tried to scratch her eyes out; Julia was now screeching and thrashing as her hair got tangled with a foot; and then lastly Emily was involved when someone made a dive for her glasses.

The boys in the meantime were stood watching, completely stunned by what they were witnessing. Sure, they knew these girls were highly strung and competitive – but this?! It was like watching a pack of animals battling with each other; it didn't seem to matter to them that they were in a public park with lots of children watching, that it was completely uncivilised to be fighting this way – if they even should be fighting at all!

So much for first dates.

"Guys! We've gotta stop this or they're gonna really hurt themselves!" Ray spoke up, clearly distressed to see such violence – particularly as Lee's little sister was in there too; he not only loved her a great deal, but he made a promise to himself and her brother that he would look after her. So far it would appear he wasn't doing a very good job of it – even though this wasn't his fault! Looking at each other in disbelief the boys too began to start bickering, the tension turning up a notch as the males started on each other as well.

"Oh like you've got any better ideas – how the hell are we supposed to get through that without receiving a scratch?! I don't know about you but I don't like the looks of those nails!"

"It was your girlfriend who started this bloody thing!"

"No it wasn't – it was that stupid kid who tried to start on Steph!"

"Yeah, but now it's the girls trying to kill each other!"

"Well we can't just dive in there – that'll wind them up even more!"

"For fuck's sake, this is ridiculous!"

"What are you complaining about? It's not your girlfriend who's in there getting ripped to pieces!"

"Perhaps you should all do a better job in keeping your girlfriends on a leash!"

"Shut up, you twat – like you would've done a better job!"

"This isn't solving the problem, guys!"

The boys continued to shout at each other as the girls carried on fighting, refusing to let up for one moment: clothes were ripped, make up was smudged, hair was completely ruffled – by now a cloud of dust was beginning to form as they all digressed to the ground, limbs flailing around savagely to try and gain the upper hand. Kids had gathered round with a mixture of fear and curiosity to watch the whole thing – some to of the boys were even cheering the girls on!

"STOP IT!"

The almighty roar that came from behind them made everyone who wasn't involved in the fight literally stop in their tracks: the teams gulped slightly as they looked up to see a small petite figure towering over them – for the first time, the international bladers had now met the Moonlight Blader, though none knew exactly who or even what she was. Although not large in stature, her red mask and her defensive stance made her look incredibly dangerous; with her launcher and another couple of other weapons seated on her hips, everyone knew that she wasn't one to cross without caution. Particularly as her eyes were glinting with fury.

Behind her was a group of about 10 other people that no one really seemed to recognise, their faces grim as they cowered slightly behind the girl. The boys stared up at her with a mixture of confusion and awe: the rays of afternoon sunshine that shone brightly in flares of orange and yellow made the blader look utterly magnificent, her power and control overruling everyone in sight. The kids in the park began back off warily as the girl's eyes flicked dangerously around the place, taking in the situation.

Quickly moving forward, the new arrival and her companions rushed towards the group of girls and immediately got to work with separating them. As quickly and as surprisingly as the fight had begun, the event was finished, with each girl held by at least one person firmly as they continued to struggle in their madness – but upon seeing the white fury now glowing in their new arrival's face, the girls' aggression immediately died down and all that was left to do was tremble with the dread of what the inevitable telling off they were about to receive.

"I don't care what you girls are fighting about – but I certainly don't expect to get a call to hear that you're all brawling like drunkards in a public place." The girl spoke sternly, her voice loud and commanding whilst unable to hide how angry and mortified she was to witness such behaviour – and to also get involved with it as well. The boys stiffened when she turned to glare at them, her dark eyes just as penetrating with the mask on as it shone like fire on her face.

"And to think you boys made no attempt to prevent the situation either – let alone did anything to get help or even resolve the situation! What are you lot? Blind? Mentally deficient? Physically unable? What on earth went through your minds to make you think that you should stand there and watch it all happen?" The Moonlight Blader continued to speak, the words blunt and harsh as they flew out of her mouth with seemingly no second thought. The boys either kept their gazes to the ground or looked uncomfortably at each other in the hope someone would speak.

None of them were however sure if it was a saving grace or another disaster waiting to happen when Tyson stepped forward with an indignant look on his face. "And who do you think you are? Coming around and bossing us about like we don't know what happened here!" He barked at the girl in front of him, his hands on his hips as his brown eyes met her dark ones – cold, vivid blue. As her frown got deeper and her eyes narrower, the navy haired teen felt like he was paralyzed to the spot with her intense gaze never letting his go as her body turned to face him directly. Not for the first time in his life, he probably should've kept his mouth shut.

"I am the Moonlight Blader. And judging by your lack of reaction amongst all of you, I beg to differ as to whether any of you actually know when this debacle started." The petite female replied frostily, her eyes taking a measure of what was around her: by now, most of the kids had scarpered as fast as they could, clearly terrified that her rage might turn on them. Most of the girls who had been fighting now looked like they wanted to burst into tears; only Becca, Steph and Elle kept their heads up to look at her – however, it was only the redhead's expression that was defiant as she tugged a little in the iron grip that now held her.

"If you plan on keeping us here being forced to the ground by a lame gang like this lot here, then I beg to differ on your meaning of a debacle." The emerald eyed female spat out, her tone as venomous as it was from the beginning of the fight as it was now. The teams gaped at her, their eyes almost bulging out of their sockets as they all registered what had just been said – even guys like the Blitzkrieg Boys knew that it was probably downright stupid to be talking like that when the control is completely the other way.

The Moonlight blader slowly turned to look at the Snow Leopard blader and began to walk towards her, the walk she adopted very heavy and deliberate as her hand lay shy of a gold blade glinting in her belt. Stopping just before the taller girl, the masked one suddenly reached out with one hand and grasped her opponent's shirt, yanking her forward with little effort. Stormy blue met livid green as the two stared at each other, eying each other so dangerously that for one fleeting moment everyone around them thought another physical battle was about to ensue.

"Last time I checked, you're not in a position to be making the negotiations here." The blader said coldly, watching with silent triumph as the Russian's eyes widened slightly. She then smirked as a thought crossed her mind, interested to see who was brave enough to take up her little challenge – after all, nothing in this world came for free and she certainly didn't come here for nothing either. Even though was a considerable waste of time to some degree, in her eyes. "Though having said that...perhaps if we made some form of – agreement – I might consider letting you all go without any more trouble." She continued slowly, her voice now cunning as she thrust the girl she had in her grip back into the arms of the gang member.

Turning to face everyone, the red masked girl folded her arms and scanned the group to see who she might consider offering a challenge. Her eyes fell on the boys. "This is my proposal: if one of you boys were to face me in a beybattle, then I shall gladly let you and the girls go. However..." She then looked at the gang leader, who returned her gaze with a raised eyebrow. "If you were to lose – then it won't be me you shall have to battle to get the girls back." She finished, watching with hidden satisfaction as the boys stared at her wide eyes, not quite believing the stakes that had now been set.

Tala suddenly stepped forward to stand opposite the newcomer, his aqua blue eyes icy – he watched how she had treated his girlfriend, and truth be told whether she deserved the rebuke or not – he didn't like the way she was being treated right now. The gang member who was now holding her appeared to be digging their nail so hard into her pale skin that red marks were beginning to blossom painfully as she kept struggling to move. "And if we refuse?" He asked boldly, waiting for the blader's response to that. But what he didn't realise was that his defiance would only add fuel to the fire – which when dealing with this young girl, was simply not a good idea.

Raising a perfectly arched eyebrow, the Moonlight Blader slowly and deliberately lifted a green gloved hand, her small pale fingers gleaming where the sun shone through the gaps that separated. Snap went her fingers – and so did something that no one would forget so easily. The gang leader promptly grabbed Becca's arm, twisted it behind her back and kicked her in the back so she landed on her knees with a loud thud – yelping in pain, the pale skinned girl gasped hoarsely as she felt a spasm agonise her body.

The redhead male had to stop himself from running over there to help the emerald eyed female as he glared at the petite one, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth whilst her expression remained completely composed. Dropping her hand, she fixed her cold glare on her new opponent and watched his face twitched uncontrollably. "As you can quite clearly see, you neither are in a position to be making demands. So either way, you all have consequences to face for public disturbance – although I'm sure it would be marginally unfair to expect any of the girls to battle, don't you?" She stated, her tone mechanical as she folded her arms yet again, standing strong with the sun against her back.

Seeing that he had no choice, the Blitzkrieg captain sighed heavily and got out his beyblade and launcher. The masked female raised her chin as she dropped her arms from her chest. "Very well then." She stated, turning sharply to one of the gang members, motioning for them to come forward and referee the match. Promptly obeying, a burly young male with dark skin and jet black hair stepped up to the task as the two bladers took their positions.

"Bladers ready in 3, 2, 1 –"

"LET IT RIP!"

* * *

Some hours later, Anna was sat in the dojo, gripping a cup of chamomile tea with her eyes closed. At the moment, she was busy trying to control her temper – although it had been a very long time since she'd lost it and caused a very considerable amount of damage, that didn't mean it wasn't ever there. But recently, there were some things that were really beginning to push her buttons. Her well valued and well learned control was slowly slipping out of the window.

Just as she took a sip of her tea, the door opened and closed, only to reveal a certain bluenette walking in quietly. He spotted the tomboy sat on the floor, and immediately knew she was at her last tether. For whatever reason, he had no idea – but he had to find out before her temper decided to show its true colours. "Where's the rest of the team?" He asked tonelessly, watching as the dark head snapped to look at him with a face that said it all to him: once again, his team mates were the root of the upset. _Fucking wonderful_.

Slowly, the brunette got up and strode furiously towards the kitchen, throwing the mug into the sink whilst still full, only just not smashing as the china hit metal. Turning, she met the slightly concerned eyes of her friend and for not one minute longer could she contain her anger. "It would appear that your friend's ability to draw continual attention to themselves seems to be remotely one of the few things that they are particularly good at." She snapped, storming past the Russian, whose eyebrows twitched with confusion as he followed her back into the living area.

"What have they been up to now?" He sighed heavily, folding his arms across the broad expanse of his chest as he leant against the wall. At times like this, he knew better than to offer any judgement when this was his companion's current mood – she was never irritated over nothing, and often once he had listened to her, she would settle down quietly and deal with it appropriately. Often, he was actually more inclined to sink in with her mood – simply because he would not tolerate people upsetting her without a good reason, and he would stick by her no matter what people said against the matter.

The blue eyed female paced about on the spot for a few seconds, in vain trying to calm herself down to give an explanation for the sudden annoyance. "It would appear that not only the Bladebreakers, but also the Stardust Girls, the Blitzkrieg Boys, the White Tigers, the All Starz and anyone else who was spectator to this afternoon's outrageous performance, are completely incapable of any form of decorum." She spat out lividly, her face flushed with the heat of her rage. "I get a phone call from one of the gangs in this area within the Network, telling me that Hilary was involved in a fight with the other girls – and on top of that, the Moonlight Blader has had to get involved as well!"

Just as the sentence flew out of her mouth, two girls stepped into the dojo, looking awkward at having interrupted the conversation – or mid rant rather. Katie swallowed as she came forward with a folder of paperwork. "Sorry to disturb you Anna – the gang who had to help out asked if we could pass this on?" She stated cautiously, allowing the petite female to march over and snatch the documents from her hands, reading threw them thoroughly. Abi then cleared her throat as her shimmery blond hair began to shake.

"They apologised for the situation and said they would gladly assist us again if need be – though they hoped that it wouldn't happen again." The Butterfly blader spoke up timidly as she wrung her hands nervously. The Winged Unicorn blader gave an indignant snort as she threw the papers to one side, before turning back to her former team mates. To give them credit, they had to be the least troublesome of the Stardust Girls; most of the time they were very helpful by her side when it came to the Network and she valued their dedication to maintaining the propriety and the decorum by which she expected everyone who was member to abide by.

"And on that front, I can only agree with them. Though it shouldn't have to be them who should be apologising – relay my gratitude to them and set up a meeting between myself and them for some time in the next couple of days. Also, organise a meeting for us and the girls who were involved in the public brawl – I'll deal with them in due course. You may leave." The young Moonshine relayed the instructions as calmly as she could manage, seeing that the European and Australian born females understood what she was saying as well as the fact that it was certainly not them who had upset her. Dismissed with a wave of the hand, the stocky Irish girl and the tall willowy girl quickly made their exit.

Anna turned to the amethyst eyed teen, who now had his eyes closed as he leant against the wall, listening gently to everything that had happened. His face remained immobile, although he was aware of the intense stare that was now burning into his face. "Do you think my verdict is unfair?" He heard her ask seriously. He opened his eyes and focused his attention on the 16 year old in front of him – her face was back to its usual stoic state, though her eyes were still alight with frustration.

"No. Whatever the case, no one – even in the beyblading world – has the right to display themselves like that in public." He answered shortly, pushing himself off the wall to stand before the tomboy, before smirking slightly in amusement. "And I can still safely say that your temper gives just cause to scare the shit out of anyone who comes face to face with it." He added, knowing that the young female always prided herself with being able to command anyone she pleased, and that her temper was merely the last resort. To have such power was something both bladers never took for granted.

The brunette then chuckled, although it sounded slightly hollow as her manner then went to sounding like she despaired of life itself. The two looked at each other and shared a mutual look: no matter what they had been through, their friendship was still strong. And they were only glad that they had each other for support, particularly when plenty of other people were quick to criticise them for the way they dealt with things. Even though as the saying once goes – sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.

Then the pair could both hear a group of teenagers approaching the dojo, muttering and grumbling – immediately the atmosphere went tense once more and it was still a struggle to stop blood from boiling over. The rest of the Bladebreakers walked in with a slightly battered Hilary, whilst everyone else looked completely worn down with stress and worry. Of course, they didn't miss the stony looks on the two eldest member's faces.

"Er...hi guys?" Max offered nervously, his baby blue eyes widening as not only he got the full blast of the frightful glares that came their way. It didn't take long for the youngsters to work out that what happened at the park was now common knowledge – the way their fellow female blader was staring at the Japanese brunette with not quite hidden disgust was enough of an indicator. No one knew what to say – and there was no way either the blue eyed female or their ever lonesome team mate was going to break the silence.

Tyson gulped as he stepped forward. "Anna, Kai, we're really sorry, and –" He was promptly cut off when the said female raised her hand deliberately, her palm facing the group as she continued to stare emotionlessly at her team. No words at this moment could describe just how mortified the situation was: Ray and Kenny could only stare at the floor in complete embarrassment; Daichi couldn't stop fidgeting as for once he kept his mouth shut; the American blader was trying to comfort the team manager as tears started to flow down her face. Finally, the hand was dropped.

"I don't want to hear it. All of you get to training – I want double of what you usually do, without question or complaint. I want you all practicing what I have assigned to you, as I gave to Kenny earlier. I shall be cooking dinner tonight, and by the time that's done – I expect every single one of you to be finished." The Winged Unicorn blader stated coldly, her tone monotonous as she received resigned nods from everyone in the group. She then promptly turned to Hilary, who flinched visibly under her watch. "You can come with me and we shall get you cleaned up. Then I want you out there with the boys monitoring what they are doing, and I expect I full report by the end of it. Now all of you get going." She finished finally, waiting as the brunette staggered towards her fearfully.

The boys started to file outside to get started – that certainly wasn't the reaction they were expecting – and to some degree they were thankful that hadn't been the case! Yet like everyone first experienced when being reprimanded by the young Moonshine, they couldn't help but feel so ashamed of themselves – the way she would look at them with those dark blue eyes as though they were a disappointment had by far more impact on them than any other telling off they had had in their life.

And despite all of that, they could admire her for it – because even though she was pissed off with them, she didn't hold a grudge and once she said what she needed to say, that was the end of the matter. Plus, considering the circumstances – it seemed quite generous that she was going to cook their dinner for them.

Although each one of them were sure that they weren't alone in the thought that passed through their minds, that they piss her off anymore, they might find poison in their food...

* * *

**_Piscesgirl09/xXxCometxXx:_**_ Hey peeps! Here is a new and improved version of this chapter - obviously in line with the old one atm it probably won't make much sense because I haven't finished with that one yet - but hopefully when I have, the story line will flow as usual! Hopefully this shows a different side to my OCs as none of them are perfect and they all have moments when they can seem...well for lack of a better word to describe, maybe slightly harsh - anyways hope you all enjoy it, and stay tuned for some more updates! Cheers =)_


	18. Some Things You Can't Deny

_**The following said story 'Love is like Fire...' is strictly property of Piscesgirl09©.**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check, Callum Fennel, Elizabeth Moonshine and Thomas Moonshine belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters.**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check, Callum Fennel, Elizabeth Mooonshine and Thomas Moonshine's auto biographies exclusively belong to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters auto biographies.**_

_**The storyline of the story 'Love is like Fire…' belongs exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of this very storyline.  
The ideas put forward to the creation of 'Love is like Fire…' belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very ideas. **_

_**I, Piscesgirl09, do not own Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any individuals of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the individuals of Beyblade auto biographies.  
I do not claim possession of any of the original storyline of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the ideas put forward in the creation of Beyblade.**_

_**Any who do so choose to**_ _**plagiarise, copy or steal will in due course be struck off my Favourite Author's list if you do so exist on that very page. Any continuation to carry out the acts to plagiarise, copy and steal after warning will in due course be reported to the site FanFiction for an act felony.**_

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_**Please read all of the above with due caution.**_

_**Thank you for your co-operation.**_

* * *

"Urgh! I can't do this, I need to do something else – I can't bloody concentrate!" Anna growled, throwing her pencil somewhere in her room: she was trying to do homework, but her concentration was anything but in tune. Recently everyone had been preparing for Ray's 16th birthday party – it was coming up to the big night, and so far it had been anything but peaceful. All she had done this week was organising everything and everyone around her. The Bladebreakers were only just starting to get used to her regime, and that had taken just over 3 weeks; Max and Ray were certainly making lots of improvements in their skill, much to her approval; Tyson and Daichi were gradually beginning to exert different ways of controlling their skills. Kai was about the only one of the group she didn't have to speak to about changing his training – needless to say his continual vigorous practice was satisfactory enough in her eyes.

Everybody else on the other hand were non-stop whinging and whining about something or other to her, particularly the Stardust Girls, who had been on her case about the incident at the park. The meeting they were due to have was coming this afternoon in fact – and of course, the tomboy was definitely not looking forward to it. She hated having to act like everyone else's mother: for God's sake, she had own to try and sort things out with! And had there been any spare minute to do that? No way. Because as ever, she was constantly trying to do the best for the majority and leave her personal matters for some other time when she could breathe.

There was a brief tap on the door and in walked Elizabeth, with a cup of steaming hot chamomile tea and a small smile on her face. "I brought you some tea, sweetheart – where do you want me to leave it?" She said kindly, watching as her daughter wearily rubbed her eyes as she tried to gather her thoughts back together to give an answer.

"I'll take it. Thanks." The brunette replied shortly, reaching to take the awaiting beverage and then blew at it carefully before taking a sip. As the soothing liquid went down through her chest, she slowly started to feel remotely human again. She then felt her bed shift where her mother had now sat down on the bed to look at the homework in question: the elder Moonshine knew that this work for her daughter wasn't that difficult – but without the right amount of rest and relaxation, even the easiest of tasks could seem vastly more difficult than they actually were.

The green eyed female then spotted something on the bedside table – a picture of the blue eyed female standing next to Kai with the Pyramids of Giza stood behind them: the sun was shining brightly and for once the two had spared a rare smile for the camera, arms around each other contently as they stared directly towards where lens had been positioned their way – they could only have been about 8 years old. The Winged Unicorn blader followed her mother's gaze and too stared at the picture for a moment, unable to conjure a feeling or a word to express the moment.

The mother then smiled sadly as she moved to timidly put an arm around her daughter's shoulders. "You and Kai must have really enjoyed that trip...but then I look at the photo...think about how things are now...and I wonder where the two children inside have gone." She murmured, more to herself than anyone else. The younger Moonshine felt her heart clench slightly as the truth hit home – that one statement said it all. Both she and the bluenette had grown up far too quickly in those years; during the time when they should've been allowed to develop as human beings, they were instead forced to learn that this world was one where it could quickly turn from peaceful harmony to a race for survival. Even beyblading to them started to become a wage of war, rather than something they enjoyed.

"Anna?" The said petite female turned to look at Elizabeth with her dark blue eyes. In that moment, she saw the woman who had endured more than just losing her husband and children – those bright green eyes were darkened with memories of a childhood that was also haunted. "I want you to know...that even though life has paid you so much unkindness where it has not been deserved – I want to help you find the child that you were again. There is still time to make up for the times where life has not shown you the way."

The tomboy's eyes went cold as she felt her blood drop down in temperature. Her mother was right – but how could she say that? After so long having to endure a lifetime without the one person in her family who was close to her through their personal experiences, how could that way of life change now? "The child that I was has long been trapped, Mum – I don't think she'll come out any time now. Not after what I have seen and done in my life." She replied quietly, looking away from those soulful green eyes that knew more than she dared to tell anyone. "I have done more than just survived – before I had turned 12 years old, I had plenty a time picked up a gun and put it to someone's head without hesitation. I have killed with little mercy, and those who have tried to bring my family to their knees have been through torture and more at my hands. That was not the work of an innocent child." She continued slowly, breathing in sharply with the sudden memories of when she would look blankly at a dead before her – only to walk off without a second glance or a second thought.

Had anyone else been in the room, other than Kai or the Stardust Girls, the brunette surely knew that most would be shocked to hear that she had been in such circumstances – trained to be a soldier; as dangerous as a weapon; battled like an assassin. Some before would not hesitate to say that it was just wrong that she even knew what a gun was before she even reached her teenage years. And not only she carried that secret – the Russian who had always been at her side without fail had also been skilled with a gun, and she had no doubt that he still was. Out of habit, the two had always practiced their combat skills – whether it was with a gun or a knife, they were always prepared and were always ready for any danger that dared threaten them or the people they cared about.

The elder Moonshine hugged her daughter tighter and planted a kiss on her head. "We all have, sweetheart. It's the burden of our family, and you have bourn it with great strength and resilience over the years. But no matter how much you try to convince yourself and everyone else around you that you are merely a cold shell that barricades your pride – there is still the flame of the true spirit that burns bright inside of you." She said soothingly, releasing the young girl and moving towards the door to exit the room.

She then slowly turned back to look at her daughter one last time. "Remember Anna: the child inside never goes away. And the more you ignore her, the longer you spend wondering why you lost what you had." And with that, the blue eyed female was left all alone. Seemingly the words had no effect on her at all. But then you only had to look down to her hands were holding the cup, where her knuckles were white with squeezing it so hard that maybe a faint crack was beginning to form, to know that once again: her mother was right.

* * *

Despite her bizarre head start to the evening, the brunette had still been the quickest by far to get ready: tonight she had opted for denim blue shorts that ended mid thigh, a deep green top that had a low v-neck that was quite revealing on the neckline and no sleeves, and to complete her outfit black converse with lime green laces. Not as feminine as the rest of the group she was now walking down to the beach with, she still looked considerably more grown up than how she used to dress as a 12 year old. For once, she also allowed her hair down from her ponytail – as a breeze drifted by, it wasn't just the girls who stopped in the street to admire the way the layers of golden brown floated effortlessly on the wind.

"We're here!" The pink haired White Tiger squealed excitedly, spotting a certain Chinese male in the distance who was now smiling and waving at the girls as they approached. By now, most of the guys had already arrived, sitting around a small fire opening beer bottle and playing card games – of course, that all ceased for a few moments as they all got up to greet the girls – though not without looking them up and down a bit first. The former blue eyed Stardust Girl walked through the hordes of teens quietly as she searched for somewhere to sit.

She then spotted the amber eyed Bladebreaker and the Mountain Cat blader now flirting with each other, the older male's arm firmly around the younger female's waist as everyone crowded around them to wish the Birthday Boy a good one and thanking him for inviting to his party. She had to chuckle as she also watched all her other friends getting into the party mood: she could see the three eldest Stardust Girl's with their new Blitzkrieg boyfriends; the rest of the girls she had to speak to that afternoon were also chatting up some of the boys – soon it wouldn't be long before out came the alcohol...and oh, let the fun begin...

"New outfit." A deep voice suddenly murmured in her ear; had it been any other male, the Winged Unicorn blader wouldn't have hesitated to sock him one – but there was no way she could mistake that deep, arresting voice that had made her heart thud a bit more rather recently. Turning, she was met with the intense amethyst gaze of Kai, who had also made a bit of a change from his usual clothes. He was now wearing black jeans with a scarlet red shirt, the top couple of buttons undone that clearly hinted at the strong muscles of his broad shoulders underneath as well as the flash of a silver chain which she recognised as the necklace she had given him years ago as a present; he had not attempted to tame his unruly hair, but in fact seemed to let it run even more wild as he wore that characteristic smirk of his.

Raising an eyebrow, the young Moonshine chuckled as tugged slightly at the collar of the Russian's shirt. "Feeling dangerous tonight, Mr Hiwatari?" She asked teasingly, accepting the glass of beer he was now offering her and took a small yet deliberate sip as she watched his smirk grow wider, peeking at him suggestively through her dark eye lashes. His breath seemed to grow warmer as he moved closer to her ear, an arm sneaking around her waist to pull her in a seductive manner that sent involuntary shivers down her spine.

"You have no idea." The bluenette muttered huskily into her ear, relishing the close contact between them before releasing her as she smirked back at him and gave him his glass back. He had to admit that for once it couldn't have been just the alcohol that was having an affect on him as he glanced appraisingly at the petite female before him; although he had never been actively interested in girls, he did know about attraction between the opposite sex, and he was certainly aware of his body's responses when he was attracted to someone. And recently, he had been feeling that more so as he spent more time with his best friend.

Of course, he was used to seeing her around and the little habits she had that added to her charm – yet being a nearly grown man, he couldn't help but notice the way Anna's body moved; the way her mood would switch subtly from being polite to almost playful; the way she was around males who flocked to her like the brood mare of the herd, and the fact that she revelled in that attention knowing the absolute power her dominating personality had over them. And not only that, he knew her better than anyone - and he couldn't help but love her for it; as he found out like many others who bothered to spend the time with her, once you loved the girl – you could never stop. So maybe for one night...he wouldn't deny it.

"LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!"

And before everyone knew it, they were all dancing and raving on the beach, drinks in hand and not a care in the world.

* * *

"Ok! Time for some more shots!" Becca yelled out to everyone, brandishing a bottle of vodka as she staggered towards the fire, clinging on to Tala as she giggled helplessly. She was one of the majority who by now where beyond drunk. The youngsters like Kenny and Mathilda had already gone home because they passed out after just one drink – the thought that hopefully the experience would man them up a little wasn't just the thought of one person that night.

Before long, the Blitzkrieg Boys, the Stardust Girls, a couple of the All Starz, a few of the Bladebreakers, Dunga, Mariam, Lee, Kevin, Ming Ming, Kane, Salima, Julia and Miguel were all sat in a large circle as the redhead Stardust Girl captain clumsily poured everyone a shot of the Russian spirit; the rest of the people invited were dancing, splashing in the sea, making out or doing something else which was probably meant for a private bedroom. Anna watched with amusement as Kai was being continually bugged by (a very drunk) Tyson to have another shot – his slightly bloodshot gaze met her equally bloodshot one and he grimaced as she laughed slightly.

Admittedly, the two stoic teens were a bit drunk themselves: basically, it had been enough for the two to free willingly go out on the dance floor and start moving together, grinding and rubbing against each other as the techno music blasted through the atmosphere – although everyone couldn't quite believe it, they cheered the pair on even so and their little session lasted for about half an hour, non stop dancing. No doubt, they thoroughly enjoyed themselves – it just made it plainly obvious to everyone else that it wasn't just them storing up some tension.

The Russian in particular was beginning to feel his urges get the better of him; usually he wasn't this reactive to his surroundings – but the way he felt his best friend's pelvis constantly move against his with such fluidity had ignited something within him that was taking a lot of will power to control, particularly as his animal instinct wanted to drive her up against him and delve deeper into a spiralling passion that would surely drive them both to the edge...

And that wasn't to say that the Winged Unicorn blader wasn't feeling it either – in fact, her will power was also waning: dancing with him only proved that her desires recently weren't just a fabrication of what they used to have between them; as their hips had clashed so often, she would feel the strength and hardness in his, tempting her to explore even further. And the clothing tonight was an added fascination for the couple – the slight curve of the young Moonshine's breasts without a bra underneath was pleasing for the male eye, and likewise for the female eye when it came to viewing the bluenette's torso stretching the material of his shirt to show off those powerful muscles.

Every so often since their dancing, the two bladers had caught each other's eye...and inside, both of them would see a smouldering fire behind them...waiting to be ignited even further...

"Right! On 3 – 2 -1 – drink!" And with that, everyone tipped their heads back and downed the strong liquid; lots of people spluttered as their throats burned with the strength of the alcohol. Only the likes of the tomboy, the amethyst eyed teen and the Blitzkrieg Boys seemed able to drink the vodka without choking their guts up – but then it wasn't really a surprise to them; they were all good with their alcohol and to knock them, they usually required something strong.

The brunette then reached over, suddenly craving a can of Strongbow. Snapping open the tin, she took a thirsty sip as she felt the alcohol begin to make her feel slightly hazy to say the least – so far, she had managed to keep her head screwed on and whilst enjoying herself, had been sober enough to help out any of her friends if they got into a slight bother – but now she really didn't care. It was about 11pm now, and she wanted a night for herself where she could relax.

"Time for a game of spin the bottle!" Steph announced cheerfully, her cheeks flushed as Spencer pulled her into him and gave her a kiss on the cheek. There was a resounding moment of giggles and groans as someone managed to retrieve an empty bottle, placing it in the middle of the sand as everyone gathered in a bit closer. "Ok! I'll spin first!" Hilary declared excitedly, her brown eyes slightly dull with the effects of heavy drinking, although her state was far better than a certain Dragon blader's, who was now leaning on her for support as his head continued to droop.

First two spins: they landed on the Snow Leopard blader and the Blitzkrieg captain. The two smirked. "Let's go find somewhere a little more _private_..." The emerald eyed female stated suggestively, grasping her boyfriends shirt as he complied and allowed her to pull in the direction of a slighter darker area where there some rocks. The former blue eyed Stardust Girl captain rolled her eyes as she gave a slight snort. "Looks like we won't be needing the internet for free porn, then." As expected, the comment sent the circle of party goers into fits of laughter, not even bothering to question the sudden show of humour that was so unlike their stoic friend - it was just great that they could all share a good joke for once! After the alughter died down, they promptly returned to playing the game.

Then came the second couple of spins: one landed on Mariah, and the next then landed on the birthday boy. Everyone either laughed or wolf whistled as the two Chinese blader's blushed profusely; needless to say, their little fairytale romance wasn't exactly a secret to those who were friend to them – and even if anyone hadn't been told, it didn't take a genius to work out they adored each other. It was easy to see the stars in their eyes as they gazed at each other as though they had been waiting for this perfect moment their whole teenage years.

"Oh bloody well hurry up and kiss the girl, Kon – you got her there now!" Bryan suddenly cried out impatiently, grinning as Elle slapped him playfully on the shoulder as she sat comfortably on his lap, everyone else laughing manically as they seconded that suggestion. The chosen candidates slowly met with each other, and everything that followed couldn't have been more beautiful: their lips met in unison, and everyone watching burst with applause as they caressed each other gently – Ray had a hand on the pink haired girl's waist whilst the other cupped her face. He had never wanted nothing more than the love he shared with his childhood friend, and his heart swelled with the knowledge that he finally had the girl he cherished right there in his arms.

By now, Lee was trying to hide his embarrassment as the likes of Rick and Michael started to teasing him about the fact that his little sister was now all 'grown up' and now taken by a man – Anna could only chuckle at the scene. It was good to see everyone looking like they were enjoying themselves, and she then finally was able to admit to herself that she also had a good time tonight. Then her gaze wandered back to the young Hiwatari sat opposite her, who was now staring at her again...drawing her back in...

The game carried on regardless in the background of their minds, but they remained locked in each other: the fire and the intensity they shared was so equally matched that few were beginning to notice the complex but powerful chemistry between the two – this wasn't just a physical attraction that had them reeling for each other's touch. They understood one another on an emotional level, as well as psychological and mental level amongst other things that they had in common; the deep core friendship as childhood pals had merely been the start of something that was now developing slowly but surely all these years later.

They didn't even noticed the bottle anymore. "Anna and Kai! Looks like it's you guys next!" The pair snapped out of their daze, greeted by the familiar sound of laughter as their friends suddenly pushed them up and towards each other – normally the tomboy would refuse to do something like this so publically, but as ever, there was still the influence of alcohol. Yet not only that, she found the sudden _want_ to do it. And judging by the way the Phoenix blader was now moving towards her with desire burning in his amethyst eyes – she wasn't only one thinking the same thing.

The two stumbled towards each other, the petite female landing into strong arms as she tripped over someone's leg. Although slightly irritated with the minor incident, she soon forgot it as she looked up to find her best friend's face now close to hers, his fiery breath heating her skin as a larger and more powerful hand traced her cheek, the pad of his thumbs stroking her jaw as he looked deeply into her eyes. Tipping her head upwards to meet his, the two were suddenly connected and the world became an explosion of heat.

As soon as their lips had touched, there was a surge of electricity that ran fiercely through their bodies, jolting a string of emotions and chemical reactions that neither could control – yet the feeling was welcome as they gripped each other forcefully and moved closer, animal instinct taking over. Very hazily in the background, the couple could hear their friends shouting encouragements at them, though they paid little heed to what they were saying as they focused entirely on just the two of them.

Time seemed to pass in a whirlwind as the alcohol mixed with lust and desire fuelled the situation even more: they continued to kiss passionately, almost savagely as they mauled each other's lips with such amazing power that they hadn't even realised that they had now moved from the spot they originally started – by now, the brunette was vaguely aware of her back now being greeted with the soft yet firm ground of sand as the young Hiwatari held himself above her.

Neither ceased to stop as the heat increased to a whole new level, to point where the strength of their need and want for each other was so paramount that anything from now could happen. Kai didn't know what he was doing; he was only acting on what he thought would pleasure the beloved girl beneath him, encouraged further as he body writhed and arched to press wantonly against his, her legs wrapping sensually around his waist as the sound of her quiet moan rung in his ear.

He then tugged slightly at her top, his kisses trailing down her neck to her collarbone as his fingers explored the skin revealed by the low neckline. In response, the blue eyed female opened a few more buttons of the Russian's shirt, hands delving inside to feel the taut skin pulled over his broad shoulders, massaging them gently whilst earning a deep, throaty groan that rumbled against her skin as she felt his head move back to her neck. Had the two been watching themselves right now, the pair knew that they probably wouldn't quite believe that they were wanting to go further – in the middle of the beach, at nearly gone midnight. But then, they had never been conventional as a relationship.

"Anna..." A loud groan came from the side, breaking through the Winged Unicorn blader's jumbled thoughts as she broke off from kissing the bluenette above her, her chest moving up and down rapidly as she breathed heavily, dizzy with desire. She could just make out a blond haired figure staggering helplessly towards her, swaying violently as her legs seemed to lose all control. Cursing under her breath, she moved out from her position, forcing herself to ignore the growl of protest from behind her as she went forwards to catch the figure before they fell.

"Good God, we've all bloody gone for it tonight, haven't we?" The young Moonshine grumbled, very unhappy to have been disturbed from her pleasurable moment – she couldn't deny it. Kai Hiwatari was fucking hot stuff! And boy, oh boy, did he still have it: he was a sensual kisser, an indulgent lover, and she couldn't get enough of his touch right now – Good God, had they been left all alone, she knew somewhere in her heart that she wouldn't have denied him - or at least her drunken mind told her anyways. Scanning the beach, she could see that most people were now gone and now it was only the Blitzkrieg Boys starting to make a move with their girlfriends – or at least most of them anyway.

As Anna held up her former team mate with as much strength she could muster, she could hear a little giggle just to the right of her ear. Turning her head with slightly furrowed eyebrows, she saw the Dolphin blader shaking with mirth as her aqua blue eyes danced mischievously. "What the hell's the matter with you?" Was the question, but then her answer was pretty much confirmed as soon as it left her mouth.

Somewhere in the distance, the tomboy could now hear some very distinct moans and sighs as she stood, with the Phoenix blader close behind, and listened. She exchanged a look with the taller male as the youngest Stardust Girl started laughing out loud – it didn't take them long to work out that the couple weren't the only ones who had worked up some heat tonight. "Looks like Becca's getting some tonight – Mr Valkov must be quite the tiger!" Rachel finally spluttered out, before turning green and suddenly keeling over away from the two stoic teens to relieve her body of the contents of her stomach and liver.

The brunette slapped her forehead as she watched the young Hiwatari stare at her with a smirk – he knew exactly what she was thinking: either it was because she couldn't quite believe how shameless her friends were these days, or she was pissed off because she could be having some whilst she was drunk and not having a care in the world if their moment hadn't been so inconveniently interrupted. Either thought was probably likely. She could only thank the heavens that people will have been too drunk this evening to remember even seeing the two of them at it – after all, from very recent memory, it wasn't like they had been particularly subtle this time.

She sighed heavily. "Dear Lord, help us..." She said exasperatedly as she helped her young friend up once more, pulling out a tissue to wipe away the residue of vomit dribbling down from those pink heart shaped lips. Perfect way to end an evening – listening to two of her older mates banging away like dogs in the wild and trying to avoid getting bile on her shoes. Though she couldn't say she was complaining...there had definitely been worse ways to finish a party in her experience.

As the trio got to the pavement, they were greeted by the two redheads, looking hot and rumpled. "Oh don't tell me you're finished already." Kai exclaimed sarcastically, earning a snort of laughter from his blue eyed team mate next to him. The curly blond haired Stardust Girl looked as momentarily confused as the Russian couple did, staring at the two usually stoic bladers as they exchanged a look of amusement.

Recovering from her laughter, the Winged Unicorn blader pushed her former team mate towards the emerald eyed female, her expression returning to being forcefully blank as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Right. You two can take her home – seeing as you're headed the same way. See you later." She stated, smirking as she watched eyes grow wide with panic as she turned on her heel and walked away from the scene, the bluenette close behind her as they listened to the two females behind them start to bicker about something they didn't catch the trail of.

The young Moonshine and the Russian walked quietly together side by side, not needing to say a word – although the fresh memories of their recent and very passionate encounter remained the forefront of their minds. Yet they refused to say anything more on the subject, and continued to walk back home. Until the petite female started to feel herself slow down with tiredness, the long hours of work, the alcohol and the energy spent partying finally taking its toll on her – just as she felt her legs give way, she felt a steady arm grip her around the waist and a chuckle ringing in her ears.

"Tired?" The bluenette asked teasingly, earning a half glare from the petite female now resting slightly in his arms as she gave a small 'hn'. He then promptly brought his other arm underneath her legs to pull her up into a bridal style carry, smirking as she watched Anna look at him slightly indignantly as her arm found his neck, wrapping it round carefully as her fingers started to play with his soft silky hair that was now shining slightly under the light of the full moon in the distance.

"I can walk you know." She said with a slight laugh as she watched her friend raise his eyebrows slightly, clearly not believing her as his grip around her got tighter. The amethyst eyed teen didn't reply and continued to walk steadily down the road with the tomboy sat comfortably in his arms, her head now resting slightly on his shoulder as nestled into the warmth radiating off his skin.

Soon the two reached the dojo, where the brunette shifted so that she slid out of the Phoenix blader's arms. She turned to face him, and time stood still once more. Neither knew what it was tonight that was drawing them together – but they refused to talk on the matter any longer. Despite whatever they were feeling right now, the excitement and the alcohol was beginning to wear off; both of them still had their pride, and whilst things were still trying to sort themselves out within their large group friends, it wasn't the right time to pursue things further.

The two broke off once more from staring intently at each other to go inside the dojo to go to bed, knowing that they wouldn't sleep. Because all they could think about was that vivid encounter – how it would surely change things in their relationship. And in within those thoughts, neither could deny the possibility that these feelings might soon get stronger.

* * *

_**Piscesgirl09/xXxCometxXx:** FINALLY! That is the last chapter in my original version of this story to be updated (thank God for that!), so hopefully by now all of it is making much more sense and I would hope the quality is a lot better too - over 5000 words! Thank so much to everyone for your support, particularly to RebelleBoss and akin'-to38 for encouraging me and inspiring me: your enthusiasm for my writing as well as your appreciation for it has been amazing! And again to everyone else, you reading my stories; giving me reviews; favouriting me and my stories; following them - you guys are fantastic, and I really hope you all enjoy the new chapters as well as more to come! Cheers peeps, and hope you enjoy this one =)_


	19. October Leaves

_**The following said story 'Love is like Fire...' is strictly property of Piscesgirl09©.**_

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* * *

It had been a couple of weeks since that when Kai and Anna had their 'emotional release'. But suffice to say, since then: everything went how the pair had dreamed it to be since they were very young. Being able to get up in the morning and have a big breakfast with their friends without always having to make it. Being able to go to school and able to come home from school knowing that whenever they wanted they could go hit the streets or stay at home while still being to enjoy themselves. Being able to go to sleep at night and feel content with their lives – feeling like everything was normal.

They could for once just act like their age – well a bit anyway. Because of course no one could forget that they were incredibly mature for their age and they still had their ways of being "anti-social." But then what most of the teams as well as the adults had noticed was that the tomboy and the bluenette become more open in their personalities – which everyone found quite daunting and strange – but at the same time, they all found it fine.

But what Elizabeth began to see more of was how close the pair were – they were completely in synch with each other. A perfect example was when all of the teams got together and had beyblading practice – in fact it wasn't just Elizabeth who had noticed: Dranzer and Moonlight, while they did have different moves, that day moved exactly the same as each other. In every single direction, in every attack, in every defence – they fought together and protected each other. They had knocked every single blade out of play by the end of the practice. Everyone had been shocked.

But that was no end to the many surprises the couple were full of: for every single day of the week, the brunette and the Russian did beyblade training together – they always seemed to have a good time then because they both had great competition against one another. Some days of the week, they were out in town after school – always rocking the streets with the boys from Total Eclipse – being your regular skater/rocker tearaways on the streets.

Other times, they would stay at home and do their homework together; chat to friends; listen to music by themselves or with friends – the other day when the two had been cooking (Yours eyes do not deceive you – they do and actually did cook!) it ended up in a huge food fight between both them and all of their friends, even the adults joined in!

Elizabeth knew that for her little blue eyed daughter, it was your regular progress in a day, nothing special: just doing your own thing as well as what you've gotta do. But as her mum, it was something – she had never been more proud of her daughter and her best friend – both of them had been through hard times but still here they were, being able to actually now enjoy life and get satisfaction from it.

Every day, Elizabeth would wake up and almost cry with joy, knowing that the Winged Unicorn blader and the Phoenix blader will now be able to flourish and flutter in to the big wide world with little things to keep them down. She felt content. Or so she thought. Because even so, she missed the love of her life, her childhood sweetheart, the one man who always made her weak at the knees: her husband – Nicholas Moonshine.

Despite what he had done to their children and friends of their children, she knew it wasn't his fault and that she couldn't be angry with him – even if she should or tried.v_My love…I miss you so much…_ Elizabeth thought sadly, breathing slowly as she felt the wind caress her skin on a gentle October afternoon while she was taking a walk down past the river. The beyblading teams had decided go and hang about the town for a bit all together: the girls went shopping (dragging poor Anna along too, despite her pleading not to!); the guys went and hung about near the park.

Grandpa now had time to practice his martial arts in peace, thus leaving Elizabeth time to do whatever she wanted. Needing to clear her head, she went to take a walk. Despite feeling her skin soak up the warm rays of the sun, the cold air was what made her dress in a pair of jeans; a green shirt with a heart-shaped neckline; a pair of knee high socks with a pair of flats and a nice, warm red coat with a green hat, scarf and gloves. She liked October: it was the time when the leaves were golden and there were few clouds in the sky despite the wind. She loved watching the leaves fall slowly…beautifully to the ground. These views brought her back many years.

She had been 20 years old: young, bold and beautiful. She was now engaged to her long time boyfriend and soon to be husband, Nicholas – or Nick as she called him. On days like this before she would finally tie the knot, the couple would take walks wherever they go – it would usually too be October. They would always find secret spots where they would talk for hours on end, listening to each other's stories and as the leaves fell down, they often danced.

Often it would be a time when Elizabeth would feel able to just act like her dreamy self – tell her love how much she wanted him – how much she loved him and wanted to stay with him forever. Nicholas would laugh softly at her and call her Liz in a way that no one else could do – in a way that would always make her melt in his arms whether she wanted to or not. He would take her in his arms and kiss her gently, like a feather floating across her skin. They would break apart: Nicholas would lie down on the grass with her on top of him and they would just lay there, listening to each other whispering sweet nothings in their ears. Wanting to stay there for eternity in each other's arms, just have each other there…

"And now you linger in the wind, where I can feel you caress my skin...not a mere memory, not a mere moment: you always gave me something…I love you...even though you're not here." Elizabeth breathed out softly, her whisper carried away on the gentle breeze that passed. She continued to walk – before she suddenly bumped into someone and fell on the floor.

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going. Forgive me." Elizabeth said apologetically, before looking up. Her eyes widened, her cheeks went pale and her hair had come loose for her hat where the wind now blew it off. Her hair fell out in the tumbles of fiery brown locks which shone bronze under the afternoon sun.

"Mum…"

* * *

"Dude – seriously?" Anna at this current in time was laughing alongside Kai as well the boys and girls, which was very unlike her and Kai indeed – but no one cared because they were all laughing together – having a good time while it lasted.

"Yeah! Then Jake totally turned round to her and said – There's way better looking girls than you, and one of them happens to be my girlfriend." Mark exclaimed, everyone then followed his sentence by almost falling on the ground with laughter.

"What a slut – seriously! I mean come on! Everyone knows Cass is your girlfriend!" Tyson was wiping tears of laughter from his eyes as he chuckled away. The basic run of events had been that some fan girl had spotted Jake in the street and made it more than obvious what her intentions were – which weren't exactly innocent in thought. Or in her clothing for that matter. But in due course, the golden haired male made it pretty clear that he wasn't in the least bit interested – much to his girlfriend's delight.

"Get used to it – you guys will have it all your life from now on." The tomboy smirked. When she and the bluenette were younger and first starting out with being famous, they both loved teasing each other about how they always had vans full of fan mail – usually written by their future 'husbands' or 'wives'.

"What makes you think I'm not used to it? I can't help being me." The Russian smirked as he watched his friend eye him coyly. The past few weeks had given him and the brunette more time to open up – meaning that they seemed that they were so much more confident – even though deep down in them they always had been. Half the time, they just couldn't be arsed to show it. Leaving most who wanted to see it royally pissed.

The blue eyed female smirked back playfully and gave him a little punch on the arm. "Of course, you are absolutely wonderful. Not." She joked, leaving the amethyst eyed teen to quirk his eyebrows playfully as he took in her cheeky expression.

"Well, with you always standing next to me, what else could I be? We all know how wonderful _you_ are." He was now really starting to play along, gently tugging at the petite female's arm as she gave an irresistable little laugh. Everyone looked at each other knowingly while the pair weren't looking and shook their heads before resuming their conversations after that moment.

They all noticed that this wasn't really just playful joking around that the two fellow bladers claimed it to be: they were openly flirting with each other. Each time it happened, their eyes would have a mischievous glint and their mouths would have a smile tugging at the corners. But somehow it was in a way that meant that no one ever seemed to know unless you really looked; because it wasn't always what they said or the way they said it. It was also the way they moved around each other - or say 'touched'.

It was never inappropriate, but it was just the way that they held each other sometimes. At times when the Phoenix blader hugged her, his arms always seemed to be near her waist while the Winged Unicorn blader seemed to be rubbing up quite close to him, compressing their bodies together as she wanted to fuse their flesh. _Very close…and hot…_ Max thought as he watched the pair with slight envy.

He wasn't being perverted – it was fact. The intimacy that the two seemed to share was incredible – and yet they were totally blind to see. _They must be attracted to each other – otherwise why all the flirting? It's not just some role play, surely..._ Rachel also queried in her mind. As well as a fair few of the beyblading teams – having watched the pair's actions, the signs were there but uncertain…yet that didn't stop feeling like the two were secretly attracted to each other, but were too stubborn to admit it.

But the Dolphine blader also noticed what happened when Elizabeth was watching the two youngsters together. She would be watching them closely, as if she was waiting – waiting for the right time for the both of them…

It also didn't help when it seemed to be happening to a lot of the beybladers; that they were flirting as well. Rachel's friends Steph, Elaina and Becca had stopped trying to be hard-to-get girls and fallen head over heels with their boyfriends from the Blitzkrieg Boys. A few of the other girls fell or were falling in love just as naturally with the boys that they had known for a while or just got on with really well.

Becca and Tala were a steamy pair: over confident, flirty and fun; they were always being naughty with their seductive comments and childish arguments – there were not very many times where they weren't doing something almost outrageous or dangerous to keep things full of action, but that wasn't to say at night that they didn't cuddle up next to each other and chat for a bit.

Steph and Spencer, while they had bags of confidence themselves, just told each other straight about what they thought and always had great conversations together, particularly while they were out in town just having coffee together in peace. They also never seemed to be jealous of each other – in fact they often invited friends to join them so sometimes it was a double date – which was a bonus!

Elaina and Brian were quite a quiet couple despite being reasonably confident characters; their time was often spent with Elaina looking after Brian with her undivided attention and blushing under his loving stare while he enjoyed protecting her and not being able to wait for ages without seeing her radiant smile every morning.

Tyson and Hilary were your typical husband and wife – Hilary loved the guy, but sure as hell he annoyed her with his typical boyish habits while Tyson constantly complained that Hilary was being too harsh to him – but in the end he always came back to her begging to copy her homework – usually this just made Hilary roll her eyes and smile playfully before the two would hug, kiss and make up – they always knew they loved each other.

Ray and Mariah were your typical childhood sweethearts that ended up getting together – completely sentimental; Mariah loved showing off to everyone how wonderful and "cute" her boyfriend was, always leaping up as soon as he came in sight. Ray was just the same as his girlfriend, always caring for her and being a general sweetheart with little things like taking her shopping and buying her favourite ice cream now and then. A cute couple.

Katy and Johnny certainly kicked off nicely after they had been arguing before ending up in each other's arms before everyone. It was shocking, but at the same times no real surprise. They had the personalities to match and they enjoyed the same things pretty much – plus they'd known each other since they were 10. They spent their time these days just playing sport and generally working up the competition so they always enjoyed their matches against each other AS WELL as together. They also liked just lazing about so they could do what they wanted and enjoy each other's company.

Now everyone had reached the dojo and were still enjoying themselves, laughing and joking about like no tomorrow. Kai and Anna reached for the door first – they heard voices. The tomboy's face now changed back to its cold stance as did her friend's. They looked at each other – something was up. They quietly went up against the door to hear what was being said.

"…I just don't know what to do now." Elizabeth's voice came first: it sounded like she had been crying.

"She has the right to know. She's smart enough to work it out even if we don't tell her – and she deserves to hear it from us and not second hand. We owe it to her – and to Kai." A male voice appeared. The tomboy's and the Russian's eyes widened in alarm. It couldn't be…and how did this conversation involve them?

The bluenette suddenly gripped his best friend's hand without even realising that their friends were still watching them – but nevertheless she gripped it back in response and both waited with baited breath. "Guys? What's going on? Who's in there?" Oliver asked, the rest just as confused as he was.

"Anna and Kai have been through enough – you do realise that you returning will have a huge impact on their states of mind at this moment in time? They've only just recently been able to live their lives like normal 16 year olds – why can't you just let me tell them how I met you and wait until they're ready?" Elizabeth wailed in despair. The voice replied softly this time.

"Anna and Kai are strong – they will survive it…also I would like to just hug them one more time…please…I'd give anything." The brunette felt something well up inside of her, as did the amethyst eyed teen. Neither knew what it was, but they felt it even so. They looked each other again: they had made their decision. They opened the door and flew in. They came to a halt with everyone else in toe.

There was Elizabeth, tears trailing down her face silently, stood barely holding herself together. Next to her was a strong looking male, looking very sad himself. He had black hair and pale skin: it looked like Anna's father – Nicholas Moonshine. However, neither felt like they were in danger – which was odd. Why didn't they feel afraid? Nicholas Moonshine was always just as – if not even more – feared as Anna was.

But as the male looked towards them, the young Moonshine now felt lost. Instead of seeing the same piercing blue eyes that she had, she saw a pair of bright green eyes. They weren't as piercing, but they still drilled into her. She knew who he was. But from where?

"You don't recognise me do you Anna…Kai." The male spoke. The Winged Unicorn blader and the Phoenix blader were now blinking, quite fast. His voice was not strong or powerful as Nicholas', but it sounded more like…how Elizabeth would talk. His voice clear; melodious rather than brusque and commanding. Then the blue eyed girl looked at him again and began to realise.

This was her brother.

"T…Tom?" Anna choked on her voice, trying to get her round the fact that yet another person from her not so distant past had come back into her life where she hadn't been able to remember. Kai by then had also recognised Thomas as Anna's big brother who had disappeared many years ago.

"Come here my little sis, where's the hug for your big brother eh?" Thomas now smiled: everyone saw Elizabeth practically shining out of his features. But Anna right now couldn't give a toss – whether anybody was watching or what they thought of her family. Because she was now going to give her big brother a massive bear hug.

"Woah, there little sis! You do realise that you're a lot heavier than when you were little?" Thomas chuckled as he almost got knocked off his feet by his younger sister practically jumping him. Or rugby tackling him more like – which didn't surprise him as he knew his younger sibling was quite the sports star when it came to any physical activities.

"Dude, you haven't seen me play rugby yet." Anna smirked, reading his mind a little as he grinned back at her; as she finally decided she'd had her fill of hugs, she let her brother go and turned to look at her best friend stood not too far away from the scene, clearly trying to blend in the moment. Thomas then looked to Kai and walked towards him with a smile.

"Hey Kai, long time no see. And you and Anna have grown up alright." The bluenette just smirked at him and walked towards him so they could both shook hands. Whether he knew it or not, the stubborn young teen looked just as pleased to be with the eldest Moonshine sibling as he would be with the Anna and Elizabeth. He couldn't help it; he'd known them for pretty much all his life and they were like his family. The family he never had after his parents left him.

"Oh some of us have definitely grown up a bit – maybe not height though." The Russian replied, throwing his best friend a cheeky grin. Pretending to ignore her response of sticking out her tongue, he then noticed that Elizabeth was stood in the corner with tears running down her face. Feeling his heart twinge slightly, he walked over to the elder female and gently put an arm around her shoulders to let her know he was there.

"Oh goodness…" The tomboy sighed as she too spotted her mother and walked over to offer some comfort. Feeling the emotions build up inside her, Elizabeth started sobbing quietly, allowing the two teens and her son to huddle around her protectively as she let herself go.

"Better give em' some space – they'll come join us soon enough. Somethin' tells me that they'll be fine." Grandpa suddenly came up quietly behind the big group, making them all jump. They all nodded in agreement and respectfully made their way out of earshot to give the family some space.

* * *

"Oh god Anna…you have no idea…" Elizabeth tried to speak audibly and clearly but as she tried, she subsided into her crying. Anna said nothing, unsure of what to say or how to even begin any sort of conversation. Kai looked up at his friend and motioned her towards her brother, whilst he tried to comfort the eldest Moonshine.

The tomboy walked over to speak to her brother, who had gone to watch the outdoors through the dojo window. "What were you talking about me and Kai knowing something? What explanation do you actually owe me?" She wasn't upset, angry or irritated. She just wanted to sort things out. Thomas now hesitated. He took a glance at his Mum, who now was staring at him with wild eyes – now shaking her head.

"Please Tom, it's not worth it…please they don't need anything else more to burden them…please." Elizabeth was now pleading – begging even. The bluenette looked up at the Winged Unicorn blader with a confused look on his face, still holding Elizabeth gently to calm her down. The blue eyed female was non-the-wiser as to what the hell her Mum and brother were talking about. Tom closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"They ought to know. We owe it to them," Thomas said quietly.

He signalled for them all to sit down and listen to what he was about to say, "Anna. Kai. You know that back years ago, Dad was not exactly himself after Mum died, right?" The brunette involuntarily shuddered at the thought of her father as did the Russian. The day her Mum had died changed hers and Kai's life forever…for worse.

"Yes." The young Moonshine whispered, closing her eyes as she felt her head starting to pound with pain as a shooting pain went across her forehead – nowadays whilst she was regaining her memories, this would always happen: she would have a moment where her head felt like it was going to explode and then - nothing. She would have the memory back.

A look of worry flashed across Thomas' handsome face as he shuffled over to Anna and held her hand gently. He wanted to be her big brother now and tell her that everything would ok and he would be there to help her get through it all. But what he was about to tell her wouldn't allow him to do that.

"It was a year later after: you and Kai were 6, I was 10 and Lia was barely walking. I had been sneaking around Dad's room – I was trying to find out why he had changed; why he had suddenly became a tyrant rather than a father; why he seemed no longer himself. I came across some essential bits of work that corresponded with your Grandfather, Kai." The Phoenix's face suddenly went stony at the thought of the man who created Biovolt and set out to make his life a misery because his grandson would never be good enough for him like his own son. Voltaire was hardly fit to be called a Grandfather.

"It turns out that he co-aligned with Voltaire decided that they had to find whatever means of being able to twist the prophecy of our father's children's fates: both of them were power hungry and agreed to share their power if they worked together. The prophecy declared that the second born child should be the one to inherit the crown, as since Mum had passed away, everything she owned was passed on to Dad as her husband and partner. And that meant that now our father was bearer of the Moonshine crown.

"He and Voltaire knew that in order to be able to achieve the ultimate power, they needed their heir to be of less strength than themselves, as they knew that the stronger one will not submit to be governed when the crown was rightfully theirs." Thomas looked at Anna.

"Me?" She whispered.

"Yes. I read the prophecy myself in its true form as it has been written. As I was the first child and you are the second, you should be next in line to inherit once you should feel ready to take on the role beyond the age of 18. The prophecy also predicted that that the second would take almost directly after the male predecessor in terms of character and physicality – seemingly because the male predecessor was the stronger of the two in his marriage. I couldn't inherit because I was the first child; you could not inherit because you could potentially stop Dad and Voltaire from achieving their goal. This left only one option." Thomas held his breath.

The tomboy looked at her best friend, who stared right back at her with dark, unflinching eyes and both of them sighed. "Lia." The bluenette murmured, still holding Elizabeth tightly as more tears fell from her eyes. Sat here listening to these revelations, truly beginning to understand the danger her two daughters and their friend had been in front the moment she had taken her very last breath...she wasn't sure how much more she could take of this.

"Correct. Before I could read much more of the prophecy, I found Dad's diary. I flicked through it, pretty much all of the entries were during the day: they showed all the training regimes that you, Anna and Kai, and I were going to be put through. They showed how paranoid he was about you two going behind his back and plotting against him – the works of how he lived his life in one small book. Then I found an entry from the previous night before; the page was completely different. It read of how he felt awful for what he had done to everyone, how he needed to escape from himself – literally. I then realised. Our father had been possessed.

"I was shocked, frightened and angry. But then in the end, everything made sense. Our great enemy was harming us in the most damaging way possible; I also remembered what I had been taught about bonds between Moonshines – when they are strong nothing can really invade our minds. When they are weak, we can be invaded but not entirely…and when we have no bonds at all, we are at our most vulnerable. This meant one thing: since Mum had died, our Dad was at his most vulnerable and broken hearted – utterly defenceless against the evils of our great enemy. Now I could understand how our great enemy was going to bring our downfall,"

Thomas closed his eyes, remembering how had sat there crying over the entry, feeling guilty for not realising how much his father had suffered and how much pain his family was being put through for the sake of one piece of paper, "Then Dad found me sneaking around in his room. I had always been good a moving silently and making myself pretty much invisible, but up against Dad: I had nothing on him." The blue eyed girl felt herself gulp at the thought of the terror her brother would've faced up against someone like Nicholas Moonshine. Like him, Anna was quite private with her personal life – but not as extreme. This meant that Thomas would've have been doomed. She felt her lips go dry.

"Then what happened?" Anna whispered, anyone barely able to hear her. Everyone braced themselves.

"He killed me…"

* * *

_**Piscesgirl09/xXxCometxXx:** Yo what's up peeps! I decided that despite the fact that when I first published this chapter, it was definitely the first thing I;d written that was any near getting up to the quality of writing that I do now, I'm going to edit it abit - put in the odd tweak here and there, so hopefully it's improved...! Stay tuned my dedicated readers, I will update as soon as I can and I will keep making changes to make this story a better read for you all =) Thanks!_


	20. My Pain Is Your Pain

″But…how? Why? You're his son…″ Anna tailed off, speechless – shocked. Her own father – the man who was her predecessor – had killed her brother, at only 10 years old. Yet Anna had barely noticed. _How could he just slip away from me, and I could feel nothing? Do I have any heart at all? _She felt a strange sensation tighten her chest and rise in her throat as she continued to wonder.

″Because Anna, there was only one kind of magic that would've released him – had I been able to escape – the kind of magic that allowed our father to have been captured under the hands of our enemy in the first place″. Tom replied sadly, knowing that he had been unable to save his father. Now Anna and Kai were scarred forever.

″Surely there were other ways of being able to release him from the evil that held him? Moonshine powers are just powerful as our enemy's – particularly when combined.″ Anna replied helplessly, still searching for some reason – some logic to what was going on. It almost seemed impossible that her father had ever been possessed: but then, she still remembered her father before her mother had died.

Her father at first did always seem cold; but once you loved him, you loved him forever. Because underneath a practical manner he often portrayed, was a man who had care for learning and the world around him, as well as a never ending patience and love for those that were close to him. Much as he wasn't one to openly display affection, he took no shame in showing how much his family meant to him.

And even Anna could admit that while he and herself were almost virtually the same as people, the both did feel somewhere deep down – feelings that they kept out of the way to enable themselves to aid others, before quietly addressing their own fears and worries in peace – if they ever remembered to do so. As she went through her long forgotten memories of her nearly 5 year old self, the more she was beginning to understand her father's predicament.

There was a long pause, before Tom answered, ″You're right Anna – our magic as Moonshine's is very great and mighty – even when expelled as a combination. But I'm talking about the type of magic, not the power. Think about it! What is the one thing that our father refused to do throughout his time after Mum died?″

Anna racked every nook and cranny of her brain for a memory – any kind of indication of her father being possessed. Then she happened to look at her beyblade, which she was clutching very tightly in her hand. It suddenly dawned on her. Could it possibly be…?

″Beyblading.″ She whispered, closing her eyes at the thought. And now she finally knew – all the years of refusing to beyblade any longer; pushing Anna and Kai to their limits, hiding Dranzer and Moonlight from them to prevent the day when they would one day challenge him – and defeat him. Yet they still found their bitbeasts at 8 years old. Every piece of the puzzle now fitted into place. Tom nodded, a hint of sadness glimmering in his eyes.

″Our enemy knew that one way to posses a person with it being undetectable is by possessing the one key part of Moonshine magic that we have a special bond with. Our bitbeasts. It only took me a while to realise that after Mum's death, our father had gone – left to deal with the pain and grief on his own. Noble indeed, perhaps, trying to not to burden other's with a pain that no one else could possibly understand. But utterly foolish.

"Because there was only one individual that he could talk to, that might have any sort of understanding of what he was going through – his bitbeast, Midnight. At the time, however, he must've forgotten how vulnerable he was now making himself – how he had made himself open to any kind of evil that may have sought to bring him down.

″So our enemy took the one time opportunity to attempt to take over our father through his bitbeast. Unfortunately, there had been success and now our enemy was in power. That's why when our father returned – I immediately sensed a change in him, a presence of a dark being that I did not recognise, yet I felt seeping out of his skin. And I knew that things were going to get worse – much, much worse." Tom finished quietly, averting his from a silent Anna to a distraught Elizabeth. Anna noticed an air of guilt lingering in the atmosphere – as if Tom felt it was his fault that he had failed to aid his and protect his siblings.

_And yet all these years, I've been blaming him for things that he wasn't even in control of – how I couldn't spot it, instead spending all my time – wasting it! On hatred, when he didn't deserve it, _Kai brooded with his eyes narrowed, releasing Elizabeth from his tight grip to stare ahead elsewhere. Elizabeth's sobs had ceased, but tears still continued to trail down her face, dripping softly from her eyelashes.

Though having let go of her, Elizabeth pulled herself together and slowly slid her arms around Kai. He had always been like a son to her, and Elizabeth was the mother he never had. So he allowed himself to be pulled into Elizabeth's warm embrace – for once accepting comfort from someone other than Anna.

Elizabeth sighed as she held Kai close, and murmured softly, ″We all did. But there's nothing to be gained by pointing fingers: there's no one to blame. What happened was unfortunate, but we cannot hold onto the past without it tearing us up inside. There was nothing we could do.″

All heads turned to look at Anna, who was now staring out of the window, the sunlight catching the side if her face. Elizabeth took a deep breath. Anna may have inherited her mother's vibrant, fiery hair – but just by where she sat now – Elizabeth could truly say Annastacia was her father's daughter through and through.

But what Tom found most fascinating was her facial expression – it was an exact replica of what her father looked like when he no longer knew what the road was like up ahead. And now for one of the few times anyone had seen, it was certain that Anna had no answer – no clue on what to do next.

Anna turned her head back to look at Tom, her blue eyes so piercing against her dark features that it was like looking into the ocean; like she knew his darkest secrets. A shiver down his spine made Tom suddenly recoil and shift ever so slightly in his eat.

″Why couldn't he beyblade once he was possessed?" Anna asked in a very dark voice, her expression blank, her body rigid with no feeling whatsoever – or so it seemed.

″As much as our enemy had control over our father through his bitbeast, he knew that Twilight was incredibly powerful – and once given the opportunity to be released again – will fight against his captor. Our enemy was also aware of the prophecy, and the obvious intelligence you were displaying at 5 years old.

"He knew that you would be one of the few that would be able to work out that our father was no longer in control of his or mind. So our enemy made sure that our father gave up beyblading – forever. Then nothing would get in the way of our enemy taking over the world - and destroying the one person who could be his ultimate downfall…″ Tom looked back at Anna directly in the eye.

″Me.″ She replied, her voice now harm. Now it was clear what she must do. Kill her enemy once and for all…

″I don't suppose you can fully explain how you and Elizabeth were brought back to life?″ Kai interrupted the silence abruptly, his amethyst eyes glinting with what looked like anger. But all in the room knew that Kai would be furious about how the Moonshine family have suffered.

There was a moment before Tom managed to find his voice, preparing the next answer, ″I think Anna might be able to help out on that one.″ Tom said quietly, not at all taken aback by Anna's astonished expression.

″What on earth are you talking about? I have no idea how you are now here walking and talking – I'm still yet trying to comprehend what -″

″ How many times have you lost your soul?″ Tom snapped, cutting off so sharply that even Kai winced at the suddenness of the response. Anna, again, was speechless. No one knew that she had lost her soul more than once – no one!

″How did you know?″ Anna breathed – she couldn't understand how her brother knew – she never said anything to anyone. Not even Kai! And now that she had thought of it, why didn't she tell Kai? He was most trusted friend, who wouldn't dare even slip a word – even under torture. And she knew this because it was what happened before on countless occasions. And what she would never allow to happen again.

″It was because you lost your soul – then recovered it – that brought me and Mum back to life. And we were not the only ones…″ Tom tailed off, letting it all sink in.

Anna took a deep breath, trying to stay calm as she attempted another question, ″But how? The only way I was restored had been through -″ Then she suddenly cottoned onto what Tom was getting at. Her pets.

″You got it. As you know, each animal bound eternally to Moonshine magic presents itself through the person, once released during certain activities – as the nature of the animal is part of the person's soul. As it stands, there have only been 3 major creatures that have remained a part of Moonshine magic since it was first created.

″The cat; the eagle and most importantly – the horse. These 3 have combined for centuries to create our family emblem.″ Anna's eyes widened considerably.

″The Winged Unicorn – of course! The cat's power is enhanced smell and sound. The eagle's power is flight and enhanced sight. And the horse's power is speed and strength…but what has that got to do with yours and mum's resurrection?″

″With our family, it has been a rather extraordinary occurrence – when I was born, the powers of the eagle were bestowed upon me. When Lia was born, the powers of the cat were bestowed upon her. When Mum was born, the powers of the horse were bestowed upon her, and our father once he married into the family.

″You, being the chosen heir to the throne, inherited the powers of the stronger of the three – the horse. However, as myself, Mum, Lia and our father died – this meant that the powers of the three were given back to the remaining creatures of our family.″ Tom looked outside, to where Midnight jumped over the fence.

″Twilight, Lunar, Midnight, Horus and Moonlight.″ Anna concluded with a murmur. Kai and Elizabeth still sat, listening carefully to every word that had been said – yet still rather perplexed.

″But how do they play a part in all of this?″ Kai asked, looking at Ann with hard eyes. She turned her head to look at him, her eyes bearing what seemed to void of emotion – if not, something Kai couldn't name or place.

″It was because of those 3 my soul was brought back – and made me somehow stronger…″ Anna whispered, dropping her gaze to the ground. Drawing up her knees to chest, as she suddenly felt a need to hold herself together.

″In by restoring your soul, each of them placed the safe hidden powers back within you – knowing that they had chosen you to be the one to save the world from the ultimate evil – thus making sure their powers in turn would make you stronger. And guard you against harm as much as possible. That's why your injuries bring little interference – because you are not only trained, but protected from perhaps milder forms of physical damage.

″Although you had been restored, this triggered some sort of magic that restores the original owners of the powers you now possess – I don't know which order they may have been. But what I do know is that you are now the ultimate Moonshine – in your own right as a person, through the skills and talents you have learned and gained, and the powers you have acquired.″

Tom finished finally; now everything made sense to Ann. It even made sense to Kai and Elizabeth! Now for once, Anna felt she didn't need to ask anymore questions; for now she was content with some of the major questions she had been asking herself for a long time, which were now finally answered.

But then she though again – Tom had said: **we were not the only ones…** - What did he mean? Then she remembered the order in which her loyal pets had saved her, and then worked out who would have been restored.

First had been Horus: so Tom would've been first to be restored. Second had been Midnight: that meant Lia was now alive! _My little sister…_ Anna thought, remembering her beautiful little sibling. Black hair from her father; the rest from her soft, flowery skin to her dazzling green eyes was her mother's. Then came the third, which had been Moonlight: that was her mother…and her father.

Anna's heartbeat suddenly sped, blood rushing round her body on hyper-mode at the realisation that her father, Nicholas Moonshine, was now alive.

″I'm sure our father and sister will be glad to know why there are suddenly free to roam the earth again.″ Anna's voice suddenly went deadly – so much that Elizabeth suddenly Elizabeth clutched hold of Kai, and Becca's head came round the door. She went white as she saw Anna's face – clearly showing how petrified of Anna's nasty temper. It was a good thing that it came so rarely – because most wouldn't last in a room with Anna in a temper.

Anna didn't understand why now her anger suddenly made an appearance – she knew her father would be different – and the family would be happily reunited! But then there was all the years of pain, hardship, neglect – being left to the mercy of Voltaire and Boris; the world; her greatest enemy…

To let that all go? She knew one she would have to: but she was scared. She had let her father and sister die – she failed to save them. Now they were back…she couldn't face them! She knew that if she felt the pain of having her soul being restored, her family felt that pain. And she didn't even notice – not even consider! – that they might be back in this world…

And Kai…She had kept secrets from him – forgotten him – let him feel more pain that he should never have felt. And yet she was supposed to love him? He had almost died at her hands many times – and here he was, risking his life again – her friends and her family too – by merely being in her presence, all because she was too selfish. And he was her best friend…

It was all too much – the emotions; the memories; the burden - enough was enough! She had now experienced too much in her life – having to face the man she had admired and feared for too long: it was the final straw!

″I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE!″ Anna shouted at the top of her voice! The pitch, the tempo and the volume of the outburst ringing in everyone's ears – then Anna leaped up and suddenly ran out of the dojo – barging past everyone in her way who had rushed to see what was wrong.

She ran and ran and ran – getting faster – using all the speed and strength she could muster, to run away from everything. Get it all out of her head for at least a minute – completely emptying her brain. She pushed herself harder, constantly muttering, ″I can't do this – I can't do this!″

Everyone back at the dojo stood silently, very still. Stunned. Amazed, At the speed of Anna's disappearance; at the strength she had used to push anything and everything out her way. But also worried. Scared. At what had upset her – sent her to a point where she needed to be alone so much it could keep her sane.

Kai stared out the window. Midnight and Horus were sat watching, as if they were calling him – beckoning him to tell them what Anna needed. Kai then murmured under his breath, the one thing that would be able to keep Anna safe and watch her without fail, ″Moonlight.″

* * *

**_Piscesgirl09:_**_ Hey everyone, next chapter up! Extra long to keep you busy seeing as I'm so slow at publishing stories atm - my apologies for that! I will try to get quicker as I go, so hopefully I'll get more frequent with publishing my stuff! Stay tuned for chapter 19 :)_


	21. The Legacy

Everyone at the dojo was sat in the main training room, discussing rapidly. Never in Kai's life had he seen so many people express such concern for Anna - particularly as some of them were not Anna's most trustworthy companions. Yet he couldn't help but feel gratified - at least it wasn't just him that was worrying desperately about her and that there were enough people to show that she wasn't alone in this world. Firstly, about what on earth happened to Anna. And secondly, who was going to go after her to bring her back safely.

"Guys - seriously! What if she gets hurt? You saw the way she ran out of the dojo..."

"What the hell happened? All I could she was that she went psycho and ran out of the house!"

"What did her brother say to her that was so bad?"

"Why was Kai allowed in there and none of us?"

"Why hasn't she got her phone on?"

"God knows where she is - just like her to run off without saying anything..."

Kai listened intently to all the passing comments he could hear as he sat waiting for information - his eyes slowly swivelled to where Steph and Elle were sat on the opposite side of the room. They shook their heads. The bluenette felt his heart sink: he was genuinely starting to really worry about Anna. Although before things like this had happened, and in the end she always returned unharmed, he still couldn't stop that non-stop buzz in his head that told him he was looking out for the girl he cared about.

"Kai." A voice murmured quietly from beside him. Keeping a calm and controlled face, the blader turned to see none other than Katie stood up before him, with Abi close by her side. Kai immediately stood up, wanting to hear if any news had come through. "Is the network doing as instructed?" He asked quietly, making sure no one else could hear him, the urgency in his voice clearly evident.

Katie and Abi exchanged a look. "No - we have every member available searching the perimeter of the town; as far as we know, she has not been sighted in the area codes 0113, 2223, 2233, 0060 and 0122 - Mr Dickenson has the BBA on patrol around the site." The Irish girl explained in an undertone, handing Kai a piece of paper with a series of number codes with their names next to them, and when those numbers came in.

"So what is the next best course of action? As we know, only Anna would find somewhere that she would not be disturbed too easily - do we wait? Or shall we all get searching?" The Russian uttered quickly, aware that time was ticking and if Anna couldn't be found or heard from soon - they might be in for some trouble.

"I and Katie were discussing the possibility of just the two of us going and searching for Anna - if we call off the search party, and we confront Anna as just the two of us: she might be more inclined to return safely to her family." Abi said softly, looking over to where Tom was sat, talking briskly to Mr Dickenson who had come over as soon as he heard that the famous Moonshine had ran out of the house without word or explanation.

Kai thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. "Very well. I shall alert the network and make sure everything stays at bay here. You go and do what you have to do." He instructed clearly, dismissing the two females swiftly as he got his phone out. Unknown in the background, Elizabeth had been listening in to what the trio had been discussing.

She wondered - what was this 'network' that had come up so often? What did those codes stand for? Was there something else underlying going on that very few others knew about? She was going to find out - as a mother who loved her daughter dearly, and a Moonshine with a duty to protect her family blood, she too needed information. Whether given or not.

Quietly, she snuck out of the hustle and bustle to make her way towards the bedrooms; she stopped in front of the one where the door was shut. Knowing the two teens very well, Elizabeth knew that Anna and Kai's introverted natures meant that they often kept things to themselves - including secrets. The door itself stood out from the others that were wide open to show the messy conditions of the Bladebreaker's respite rooms. It would only be like the pair to shut everything out with just one object.

Taking a deep breath, she gently held on to the door knob and turned it. The door opened slowly as she tiptoed into the room, before shutting it behind her. She blinked. It was exactly how she had imagined that her daughter would keep her room: the interior was not overtly tidy, but there was sombreness about it that was like Anna's cool personality.

Yet by looking at the posters of other rock bands and singers, as well various drawings and paintings pinned up on the wall - the elder female could clearly see that Anna's world on the inside wasn't just logical, but also quite creative. Her eyes fell on the computer that sat on the desk, which was switched on. There was also a blue file sat on top of the keyboard.

As she took a closer look, Elizabeth could hardly believe her eyes - the screen was map of the town which showed various coloured circles moving about, with a message board on the side showing a list of groups that were 'logged in'.

The people logged in also had code names - she noticed that 'Sagittario' and 'Eclipse' were located within the dojo. How on earth had Anna managed to connect other people's locations to her computer? And enabled them to post messages on there, which were currently ones of extreme worry and concern, without anyone knowing? And who were the people around the dojo who were clearly part of this 'network'?

But in her own head, the Moonshine female already knew the answer. She had heard, since being reunited with her daughter, the Stardust girls, Total Eclipse and Kai as well as the fierce brunette herself frequently on their phones, muttering about 'codes' and 'numbers' - one time she even heard the word 'gang'. This could only mean that the bladers and Anna's family were not the only ones involved here.

The mother felt tears start to prick her eyes: she had desperately hoped that Anna hadn't started anything dangerous or foolish - but as she delved deeper into Anna's life, Elizabeth knew that there was certainly a lot more secrets and information to her than she could have possibly imagined.

She picked up the blue file, and opened the first page. A feeling of shock overcame her as she gaped at what she saw; clearly at the top of the page was Anna's name, a photograph of her and under the title of 'Head Gang'. Elizabeth's heart pounded as she read the words over and over again. Gang. Gang. _Gang. Why?_ She thought helplessly. Had Anna been enough danger already? Why has she now gone and created a 'network' of people who clearly knew their guns from their knives, judging by the criteria put into the skills section. She felt sick.

"I wouldn't mess with that if I were you." A voice came from behind the frozen woman. Jumping from fright, Elizabeth whipped round to see Rachel there with a grave expression plastered on her usually bright and cheery face. The two stared at each other.

"But why?" Elizabeth whispered. Rachel, being a member of the Stardust Girls, would know for sure what was going on. And judging by the look on her face, she knew about that file as much as Anna and any of the other people closely linked to the Moonshines. The smaller blond walked towards the crumbling brunette and sat her down gently.

"This network is the very reason why Anna never takes a rest - every single bit of Anna's expertise is in this network: and she owns it completely." Rachel murmured softly, watching sympathetically as tears fell again from Elizabeth's dazzling green eyes. She felt so sorry for this poor woman; while she had been reunited with her family one by one with each member, it had brought her nothing but heart ache. Instead of being able to settle down like any normal family.

"But why would Anna create something so...complex? Surely she knows that this could potentially injure her? Look!" Elizabeth suddenly snapped, grabbing the file and rapidly flicking through the pages as she looked at every single one of the member's information. The Stardust Girls, Total Eclipse, Kai - so many people were integrated around the world into this dangerous yet amazing network, and for what purpose?

As Rachel opened her mouth to speak, Elizabeth started up again, her voice starting to get high pitched with emotion. "She is intelligent - her IQ beyond average; her wisdom and knowledge far beyond her years, and does she come up with? This! How can you just go along with this?" She finished shakily, her anger and worry mixed into one dangerous mood that had Rachel trembling, like any other under the power of the Moonshines.

Rachel cleared her throat and looked sincerely at the elder woman. "You're right: but as you and any other Moonshine would know, the will of your family nearly always overrides the will of others - that is why you all share a power so great that no other man can possibly imagine how to wield it," Rachel started steadily, raising a gentle hand as Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak.

"Anna started this network when she was 12 - not long after she met me. She was a girl unlike the one she is today: completely cut off from normal life and people; forced to hide everything she loved and hated - because of the fear she had always held for her dad.

"Her dad constantly suspected Anna of plotting against him, doing and saying things she shouldn't have been doing. So she decided that she would need more people in numbers to help cover her tracks, make sure that anything with her name linked to it was erased within minutes. So she created this network." Rachel continued to explain, nodding towards the computer screen.

"Anna knew that this was a dangerous thing to do and could risk her life if she was found out! But then, she knew was tough; she knew she had the brain to do it - and with no one other than Kai to stop her: the option was taken quickly. Anna felt she had no choice but to take extreme measures to defend her friends, family as well as herself.

"Over the years, it has worked very well. Whenever one of us has been clumsy or foolish, the network has been our back drop: we needed protection, and Anna gave it to us on an open plate. Then came the time when she needed our help - of course, all of us were astounded that Anna would seek _our_ aid! Being our ultimate weapon, Anna had rarely in the time she had known us turned for our guidance -but when she did: we all knew she was afraid.

"She wanted us to join the network; use our variety of skills to make the network better and improved, give us a chance to finally live our lives a little more safely. The others, being braver and bolder than I am, agreed to it and signed up as soon as they could. In the end, I couldn't - I was scared. Hell! There was no way I could go out on the streets and use a gun on someone - but Anna understood completely, Elizabeth. You should've seen her; you would be so proud of her! She didn't push me or punish me, and still made sure when I went to bed at night - there was no reason why someone should come banging on my door to kill me." Rachel finished, closing her eyes gently.

Elizabeth sat there stunned for a moment. Anna had done all of this for other's safety more than her own - obviously, she knew that the cool female underneath was a girl who cared deeply about the people she respected and regarded as her friends and family. But she never imagined that Anna would go to such lengths!

"She did it for her dad too." Rachel whispered. The green eyed beauty's head whipped round: she heard the blond girl say something, and her inquisitive nature ruled that she wanted to know exactly what had been said. "What did you say?" Elizabeth said, suddenly taking hold of the girl's hands, looking her directly in the eye. Begging. "Please tell me!"

Rachel swallowed. She knew that it would be more than her life's worth to tell anyone outside of her teammate's 'inner sanctum' - she remembered vividly Anna almost shouting with frustration when her father had taken Anna's act if trying to save him from danger as one of showing the world that he was not capable without her aid. Like any other daughter who wanted her father to love her, Anna had been distraught. _Can't he see that despite what he says to me, I would do anything just to please him?_

Rachel shivered. Those words kept ringing in her head for years to come after that incident - it hadn't been long before Nicholas Moonshine would die... "You should know Elizabeth. When a daughter is rejected by those who should understand her and still accept her for it: she will do anything to fight for that acceptance." She finished, closing the subject completely. She got up and walked towards the door.

She hesitated, and then turned to look at Elizabeth again. "If you put that file back carefully where it was, she shouldn't notice...and don't judge her on this. She knew that you would feel this way." The baby blue eyed girl suggested, before stepping out of the room and shutting the door behind her.

Elizabeth didn't move for a moment. She loved her daughter. She also knew how it felt when the two people who should love you from the day you started breathing are the two people you feel were missing in your life. She too had her own experiences of family prejudice, rivalry and a whole history of events that not only changed her personality, but also her life for good.

Yet that history had never affected her so deeply and profoundly - it had been nothing in comparison to what she had seen Anna - and Kai - go through. She gave a moan as she tipped her head back and felt her heart swell with compassion for the one girl that had a world around her where she could hardly get enough and yet had enough of it - all in the process of the passing of nearly 17 years.

But she couldn't help but look at what Anna had done and feel jealous of her daughter's work. Although the two were almost evenly matched, Elizabeth had recently felt like she always was one step behind Anna's constantly moving feet. As a Moonshine, Elizabeth was by nature a leader and a competitor: you always aimed for the best and you did not stop until you got it. Unfortunately, the elder female knew that while she and her daughter would always be family, the legacy of the Moonshine blood meant that they would be rivals from start to finish.

And in the end, something or someone would have to give.

* * *

**_Piscesgirl09:_**_ Hey everyone! New chapter up and ready for reading - thank you to all my supportive fans and fellow readers etc for being so supportive with this story, and I hope you all enjoy this next chapter :) Stay tuned for chapter 20!_


	22. Mirror My Life

_**The following said story 'Love is like Fire...' is strictly property of Piscesgirl09©.**_

_**The additional individ**__**uals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check, Callum Fennel, Elizabeth Moonshine and Thomas Moonshine belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters.  
The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check, Callum Fennel, Elizabeth Mooonshine and Thomas Moonshine's auto biographies exclusively belong to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters auto biographies.  
The storyline of the story 'Love is like Fire…' belongs exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of this very storyline.  
The ideas put forward to the creation of 'Love is like Fire…' belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very ideas. **_

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I do not claim possession of any individuals of Beyblade.  
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_**Thank you for your co-operation.**_

* * *

The sea. Anna could smell the salt as she sat on the sands of the beach, under the afternoon sun. The air was cool and crisp as it whipped past her numb body. Though the tomboy was feeling too down to notice - the emotional energy she had exhausted today had left her feeling tender and vulnerable. Her eyes were closed, as she listened to the faint cry of a sea gull in the distance; the gentle wash of the waves as they hit the shore. At the moment, nothing could give her more sanctuary than the calming atmosphere of the seaside.

Opening her bright blue eyes, Anna stared blankly out at the sea. Why was she here? Surely her first and foremost call of duty was to comfort her mother and keep order amongst her now confused friends? But then there was a twinge in her heart that made the backs of her eyes prick: this time, the young Moonshine wasn't ignorant to what her emotions were telling her.

Figuratively, every water droplet in the large expanse of sea before the brunette was like the many tear drops that were waiting to be released within her - the innermost thoughts, feelings and secrets locked away in her heart and mind were the ocean of turmoil that she was going through right now. And no matter how hard she tried, Anna knew it was hopeless trying to hide it any longer.

A soft breeze rustled her dark hair and she shivered. More than anything, the blue eyed female wanted to run away further from what was inevitable. Perhaps for the first time in many years, she might finally admit that she was afraid. Picking up her iPod, she looked at the music she was now listening to. Thinking Out Loud, Lesley Roy.

Anna gave a sigh. Story of her life in a sense - she didn't want the world to see her innermost fears and weaknesses. Yet there would always be the tiniest pang that said: Why? Because even though she didn't like it at times, she was human. Just like everyone else. Made of flesh, bones and stupid, goddamn emotions. And what seemed to hit the tomboy most was that everyone always expected her to be devoid of them - so that at times like this, only someone like Kai would know that she needed a shoulder to cry on.

As the brunette looked across the beach, she began to remember the times like this, when she and Kai had run under the endless bounty of sunshine across the golden sands of Egypt; California; Syria; Mexico - any place where the day seemed to go on forever. And the two of them harnessed the little freedom they had fully to enjoy some of the pleasures they found in life.

Most often, they found small spots of shade where they would eat a picnic; rebuild their beyblades; have a splash in any water nearby; anything they could think of to do together. Just a private little area for themselves where no one else could tell them how to think or feel. Where they were happy to just be who they were.

* * *

_It was a bright sunny day. The Moonshines and any companions were travelling the Spanish Peninsula towards the south coast - as they all drove past in their bus, the land stretched out for miles and the road seemed endless. Anna and Kai had been at the tender age of 12 - both of them beginning the stage in their lives when their bodies and their maturity would start to change._

_The tomboy was staring silently out of the window, watching the great outdoors - what new wonders would be in store for her? Would she be able to enjoy the beauty of nature? Or would she have to spend every minute wondering whether her friend's lives or her life was in danger? In truth, she did not know. Her father above all was not always the most predictable of men._

_She felt a hand on her arm. As she turned her head, there was her blue haired friend, giving her a faint smile. As ever, Kai would never cease to amaze the young Moonshine in being able to tell what she was thinking; what she was feeling. He would look at her with those devastatingly beautiful amethyst eyes, and he would know._

_The bus came to a halt. Nicholas Moonshine in all his glory stepped forth from the driver's seat - there was no doubt of the power her possessed as he stood magnificently against the rays of sun shining through the windows. "We have reached our destination. For now, leave all the baggage in the bus and you may have a few hours to indulge yourselves. I expect everyone back here for 6pm to unpack the bus. You may continue."_

_And with a flick of his hand, the elder Moonshine dismissed the youngsters. The tomboy and the Russian exchanged a look: one thing the father could not be faulted for was his presence, his dignity and his absolute skill to steal the attention of any audience and keep it. Without another word, the two rebellious teens stood up and decided to exit their transport._

_As Anna stepped outside the vehicle, she inhaled the familiar air of salt and earth. This was Vera - a small seaside town known for its authentic Spanish way of life: everything from the markets to the shops was colourful and lively. The blue eyed female couldn't help but smile - it was quite pleasant to think that her father had given them all time to just explore._

_Kai came up behind his friend and whispered gently in her ear. "Amazing, isn't it?" His voice tickled the back of her neck, his lips only an inch away from her skin. Sighing, the dark haired girl turned to face the young Hiwatari and looked up into his beloved face. He was bigger now in his height, in his physicality - his muscles were becoming more defined as did his trademark smirk._

_Although Anna knew she felt something for Jake, there was something about Kai that sparked desire whenever he spoke; whenever his body was close to hers. She reached out to touch his face, but quickly retracted as she spotted her father looking around. The dual haired blader swivelled his head to see Nicholas looking at them with deep stare._

_For a moment the two males held each other's gaze. Nicholas then broke it by raising his chin slightly before walking away in the opposite direction. Satisfied that the two were safe, Kai gently put his arm round his friend's shoulder and started walking with her towards the beach. Everyone else in their group of companions scattered here and there, looking for something to do._

_The pair did not speak for some time as they continued for a few minutes more; as ever they felt that odd sort of contentment whenever they linked arms and held each other. And more than anything, they both wanted to relax in the peaceful atmosphere - the sun was dazzling brilliantly against a clear blue sky, and while it was only winter in Europe, there was still a substantial amount of heat that suited the warm-blooded individuals nicely._

"_What do you want to do now?" The young Moonshine asked, her eyes flicking up to look at the Russian, wrapping her arm round his waist. The two stopped a moment again so Kai could gaze down at those dark blue orbs staring at him. Although he knew that he had grown a lot in past year, the bluenette could only marvel at how small his best friend was by his side. Granted she was quite strong and had amazing athletic ability, she was really quite petite._

_He gave a small smile. "The beach?" He suggested, taking her hand and lacing his fingers between hers. Feeling the corners of her mouth tug upwards, the tomboy pulled him in the direction they were walking in and they both started jogging towards a quiet looking stretch of sand in the distance. Perfect – for an afternoon undisturbed._

_As the two reached the beach, they slowed down and walked towards the calm waves lapping on the shore. Unhooking her bag from her shoulder, Anna dropped her belongings on the ground and sat cross legged just before the water. Kai followed suit and sat opposite her. They both watched the sea in silence, acutely aware of each other's presence._

_The blue eyed female turned her head to meet the amethyst eyes of her best friend – the two smiled. Both of them knew what they were both thinking: at last, some sanctuary where they didn't have to hide anymore. "Kai?" The brunette suddenly asked, her voice soft on the breeze that swept past._

"_Yeah?" The young Hiwatari answered, looking intently at the brunette's young face. Often, he would know what she was going to ask him – there would be little nuances in her face, in her manner, that he knew so well. And only Anna knew that having Kai grow up with her meant that he had one edge no other man would have in her life: he could read her._

_The young Moonshine smiled as she looked down at her feet and hands. "You've grown again." She stated. The Russian blinked before letting out a chuckle. It was true, he knew: after all, being a young male, what else could he do? But the very truth of the statement was enough to make him realise how much he was changing. How she was changing. Carefully, he reached out and took her hands in his, his thumbs stroking over the pale skin - as the pair continued to watch each other they slowly lifted their hands and brought them together._

_As the heel of Anna's hand met with Kai's, there was a spark of electricity as she stretched out her slim fingers. _Such strong hands... _The blue eyed female thought as she examined the bluenette's larger grip. Having been so engrossed in thought, the tomboy didn't realise that her amethyst eyed friend had been staring at her intently. Their gazes met - and there they were locked in each other. _

_For one fleeting moment, the young Moonshine thought Kai was going to kiss her..._

* * *

Anna was suddenly jolted out of her memories as she came to a halt outside of a building. _Of all the places..._ She thought, staring up as the sun peeped out from behind the towering structure. The studio. The one of the few places where the tomboy could just let it all out and no one could say anything about it - in one regard, it had been one of her homes. If she wasn't in her bedroom; in the beyblading arena; on the sports pitch; the library; the countryside during her free time: this would be her fall back.

Stuffing her iPod back into the pocket of her hoody, the brunette kicked open the door and made her way in. Luckily, no one else was there - though the dent in the door would be a tell-tale sign later on. But right now, she didn't care. As the young Moonshine stalked through the corridors, she finally made it to the rehearsal room.

Shoving the door open, Anna flicked on the lights and made her way across the room to where her guitar lay. At times, she felt that things like her beyblade and her guitar where her friends during times of loneliness, somehow. Although logically she knew they were just objects - they were also the elements of her life that she could never live without. They helped her shape into the person she was, though the tomboy felt that she had never been quite whole.

Picking up her guitar, she started to pluck the strings. As she played the music, her eyes closed with a sudden relaxation - the same feeling she always had when it was time to escape reality for a few minutes or more. As she played some more notes, the brunette felt something rise in her throat and she knew it to be her voice. Words that she could weave with eloquence into something that made a moment, snapshot of what she was feeling inside.

Finally as the blue eyed female found a steady rhythm, she opened her mouth and started to sing.

_**I still dream of you,  
The way you used to smile,  
The way your eyes would shine,  
But I don't remember your voice,**_

_**It didn't take long to see,  
You are a part of me,  
Though you might be miles away,  
And when you've been gone,  
For so long,**_

_**I couldn't hold you any longer,  
Even though it made me weaker,  
I needed to find my way on my own,  
And in another time,  
Or another place,  
I would hold you again,  
We just have to wait…**_

As she finished the last chord of the chorus, Anna gave a long sigh as she felt a momentary feeling of relief wash through her. She couldn't finish the song. She knew that in a matter of minutes reality would slowly move its way back into her mind - but that didn't matter. Having time to be completely and utterly oblivious was what she needed.

Digging into the pockets of her hoody, she got out a packet of cigarettes and a lighter. Of course she knew all about the pros and cons of smoking, blah blah blah. Yet she didn't care at the moment: one wouldn't kill her certainly, so no harm was done. There was no one else about to preach to her about what she should be doing - as far as she was concerned, she wanted to indulge herself.

As she lit a cigarette and took a drag from it, she closed her eyes and let it all sink in.

She could see her life flashing in front of her eyes – snippets of memories of when she had been in the darkest depths of her mind, unable to call herself out of it. And the one that stuck out like a sore thumb was the time around her father and sister had died…

* * *

"_Miss Moonshine?" A voice came from the side of the 13 year old Anna, her dark hair bedraggled from torment; eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep; skin white with lack of energy. She turned her stiff neck to see the doctor standing there. The look he had on his face would never leave her as she knew what it told her: his eyes glazed as he tried to hide the sadness in his face, his coat hanging from his shrunken shoulders as he wearily wiped his eyes. "You can see her now."_

_Leading the way, the doctor walked with the tomboy behind him towards the ward. Opening the door, he let her through and indicated towards the bed down by the far end of the room near the window. The blue eyed female nodded her thanks, and started to wander down the floor towards where her little sister was laid in her hospital bed._

_As she reached the end of it, the tomboy took moment to look at her sister. Lia: a delicate beauty with creamy skin and a mass of raven dark hair - perhaps for a moment the elder sister could smile at how much her young sibling was starting to look so much like her mother. The youngest Moonshine shared that same smiling mouth, the same innocent expression that was demure and honest._

_The number of times Anna could remember people commenting on how her sister was so sweet. And she could never disagree with them - it was true, Lia was one of the kindest and thoughtful young girls ever born. She was always pleasant, always cheerful. But there was the odd moment were jealous would tweak the occasional heart string as the brunette saw her sister flourish under her protection._

"_Anna...?" A small voice snapped the Moonshine out of her daze, and saw that her sister had now awakened. Green. Dazzling, pure green - not like the emerald of Becca's, but natural - almost like a leaf on a brand new spring day. Forcing a smile on her tired face, the elder sister moved to Lia's bedside and sat next on the chair._

"_Hey, how are you feeling?" She asked gently, taking her sister's hand. Although the blue eyed female had resolved herself to be strong, she couldn't help but start to feel like she wanted to break down. She had tried so hard to protect her family and friends - yet this was the result of her hard work? Her father dead, other aunts and uncles too? And what was worse, her sister severely hospitalised with pneumonia?_

_Had she not tried hard enough? Was her effort misplaced? Or did some stupid force of destiny mean for this to happen? Why was any of this happening? Why her? Too many questions - the more the young Moonshine questioned herself, no answers ever came forward. "I'm sad." Lia murmured, her expression mimicking her very words. And that was what made the tomboy start to break._

_Seeing her little sister miserable was one of the few prices she couldn't bear to pay. It was too much. "Why's that, sweetheart?" Anna asked, her voice cracking as moisture filled her eyes. Just as she thought no one could help her, the brunette felt her sister's smaller hand squeeze hers as the bed shifted. Despite being weak and possibly dying, the green eyed girl forced herself to stay awake._

_The 13 year old female could then see why her 8 year old sister was a Moonshine through and through - even though the world had gone black, Lia refused to see that the light had gone. It was that inner strength that the blue eyed female knew had always been inside, but never truly seen. The years of continual battle for their lives had left Lia submissive, Anna scarred. How they could've fought against it any better had never seemed possible._

"_Because mummy's gone. Daddy's gone. Everyone's dying. Why does it happen, Anna? I miss them." The raven haired girl looked at her sister with those wide, scared eyes and the tomboy felt something close around her throat. She didn't really know why it was - life as a Moonshine would always be too complicated. Yet her little sister was one of the few people she could never be harsh or blunt to - having gone through so many things together, the bond of sisterhood tied them together strongly and was almost impossible to break._

_Anna swallowed. "I don't know, honey. I miss them too - I would give all of the world to bring our family and friends back. I would die for it - just to say I'm sorry." She replied quietly, feeling a tear slip down her cheek. Lia, although young, knew that her sister always blamed herself for things that were out of her control. It upset her to see her elder sibling crack - because it meant that the world was starting to fall apart for both them. While there were all alone. Orphans._

"_It's not your fault, Anna. You didn't want daddy to die - you tried to save him." Lia whispered, moving over to hug her sister with great strain as aching took over her limbs. For one of the rarest times in their lives, Annastacia Moonshine let the arms of her young sister enfold her completely as her dark head laid quietly on her sister's shoulder - unable to stand strong and proud any longer._

"_It is. Because if I'd have gone and swam to get a boat, dad would be alive - you wouldn't be here in hospital. If I'd have made sure - checked over once again - that everything was safe, we wouldn't be in this mess. It's my duty to protect this family, and I've failed." The dark haired female spoke softly, her voice fragile as more tears starting leave her. Before long, the tomboy felt her shoulder start to grow wet with the tears of her sister, before adjusting herself so that her stronger arms wrapped around Lia's smaller body._

"_But Anna - you're only human. You can't do everything. If you could, then you're right we wouldn't be in this mess. But you can't. So we have to look after each other - no one's ever made it alone before. Why should you? You haven't done so far." The green eyed girl gripped her elder sister tighter, holding onto the warmth that she had always found so comforting._

_If the brunette had been in her strong mind, she would've said otherwise. But in her weakened state, she saw the truth for what it was. Lia was absolutely right - although she professed to do things herself, being stubborn and independent, there had always been Lia. Claire. Matthew. Alex. Steph. Elle. Abi. Becca. Rachel. Katie. Julian. Sally. Chloe. Felicity. Olivia. Catrina. Angelina. William. Victoria. Fred. Mary. Horatio. George. Bradley. Kai..._

"_I don't want to do this anymore." The blue eyed female whispered._

_The raven haired girl looked at her sister with a shocked expression etched across her features. She couldn't believe what her sister had just said - she couldn't have heard it! This wasn't Annastacia Moonshine at all: the Anna everyone knew would never give up. But it was all to clear that at the moment she had been replaced with this broken, frightened young girl in her place._

"_Don't say that Anna. Please. Don't give up. It's not like you! You always say it: keep going with your head held high until you brought down, and even that is dying trying. Please Anna." Lia started to cry quietly, tears seeping from her innocent little green eyes. She needed her big sister. But how to let her know that without saying what was inevitable._

_Turning back over in her bed, the youngest Moonshine dug under her pillow and pulled out a book. The tomboy lifted her sad blue eyes to look at what her sister was holding. "Will you look after this for me?" The green eyed girl asked gently, holding it out for the brunette to grasp. That was when she felt her heart stop._

"_Lia please..." Anna croaked, looking rapidly from the book to her sister's plaintive expression. She didn't want to admit it - that this might be the end of the road for the beautiful little girl. Yet how could that be? What cruel trick of fate would want this sweet girl to die so young? She couldn't take it. She really couldn't._

_Lia gave a sad smile. "Anna, I know what's ahead of me. I don't want to go - but you can't deny the prophecy laid out for both of us. Though remember: you can do this. I've always had faith in you, as much as everyone else who knows. You just have to keep believing. And at the end of the day, you are and always will be my sister. No matter what." She spoke softly her voice no more than a breath as she gave her sister another big hug._

_The blue eyed female returned the hug, but still couldn't summon any words to say what she wanted to – but in what possible way could she say that even though it felt like there could only be room for one, she always made the room for the two of them? That despite their inner battle to see a loved one rise and bitter rival fall, she had always wanted to be there for her? That despite everything they'd been through, she completely understood?_

_Although she did not believe in religion or any particular God, she did think that there was something greater out there that meant for these things to happen. And the amount of times she wished that there wasn't, she couldn't count. Because it was now once again costing her one of the few people who gave her something worthwhile to live for, amongst the life shrouded by darkness. "Godspeed my angel." She whispered._

_As night began to close in, Lia gradually settled into her bed. Just like old times, the tomboy sang to her little sister a lullaby that had stuck with them from childhood. Holding each other's hand, the raven haired girl soon fell into a deep slumber, and left the brunette wide awake staring out into the strange, dark calm of night. Moonlight spilled through the window onto the sleeping form of the youngest Moonshine and the brunette sat by her bedside, too frightened to go to sleep. _

_But before long, a rush of exhaustion claimed the young Moonshine, causing her head to lull downwards as her she fell asleep on the firm mattress, her eyes fluttering gently shut. As time went on, the blue eyed female did not stir or wake as the grip of her sister's hand became looser. Nor did she hear the green eyed girl's breathing slowly dissipate as her chest no longer rose and fell._

_Yet she was dreaming. She was now a 6 year old girl again, running through the golden fields of British countryside. And out toddled a near two year old Lia – her green eyes as dazzling as her elder sister's blue ones. Both of them young, full of energy and destined to be great beauties as they grew up. As the tomboy slipped further into her dream world, she could indulge in the blissful freedom of cherishing her memories of earliest childhood with the sister she so adored. _

_When Annastacia Moonshine would wake to the beep of the heart monitor and the cry of a nurse, she only looked down at Lia's hand in hers and the little black firmly tucked in the crook her elbow._

* * *

Once again, Anna was jolted out her memories with a start. It had been like that night nearly 4 years ago – as though she had been dreaming, and yet somewhere she knew this was all so real. Rubbing her head wearily, she felt something wet run down either side of her cheek and drop onto her limp hand. Two tears.

It was no lie to say that the tomboy had taken her family losses harder than any other tragedy she could be faced with. She could only have to think of Lia's innocent little face, and something around her throat would start to squeeze. Pulling out her phone, she switched it back on.

To her momentary surprise, she found what must have been over 100 messages waiting for her, whether they be text, answer phone, missed calls. The whole lot – even internet notifications. The blue eyed female was completely stunned. How many people? Willing to drop everything to make sure she was ok?

Over half her life and more, there had been those quick to point out her negative aspects of her character; to tell her that she was too harsh, too cruel, including those who were friend and foe to her. Every day, there would be at least one comment – whether it be in good or bad humour – reminding her that she was watched and scrutinised by everyone.

And yet, these were the same people looking out for her: the people she thought who had little time for her were proving to be her allies, and the people who had stuck by her side for so long to be true friends. All of them – The Bladebreakers; The Stardust Girls; Total Eclipse; The Blitzkrieg Boys; The Majestics; The White Tigers; BEGA; Barthez Battalion; F-Dynasty; The Saint Shields; Team Psychic.

Amazing. All of them.

Sighing, the brunette mustered all the strength she had left and hauled herself up from her seat.

It was time to go back.

* * *

"Where on earth could she be?" Elizabeth almost screeched, pacing about the garden in distress. Kai, Tom, Mr. Dickenson, Grandpa Granger and Hiro were stood nearby, unsure how to keep her calm. Even the young Russian starting to look agitated, constantly taking sneak peeks of out the window to see if she was about to walk down the driveway so he could run out and pull her into the safety of his arms.

Tom walked over and tried to hug his mother, but she wouldn't let him. As a Moonshine and her daughter's guardian, it was her duty to make sure the young dark haired girl returned home safely. On the other hand though, as a mother, she could only dread to think what might have happened to her beautiful little girl.

Just by having to think of the possibilities was enough to make her weep. This would have to be any parent's worst nightmare, and how she wished she had the stability of her husband there with her. He would know what to do: it was something he and Anna shared very mutually – being able to take control and make things right with the least hassle as possible.

Although she too had the ability, her first instinct was always to run out – bang on every door, hassle every person walking in the street until she was able to grasp her loved one into her trembling arms. Suddenly she stopped.

"Mum?" Tom asked cautiously, watching his mother's face change to one of complete shock. Following her stare, the adults all turned their heads towards the gate. Walking slowly, gracefully towards them was the figure of a small girl with a powerful stride. Her hair swaying about her shoulders with an air of pride mixed with spirit as the wind tousled it gently.

Anna.

For a moment, everyone stood stunned. The youngsters were now peeping out from the dojo in disbelief as they watched their leader come towards them, unable to say anything. Why had she come back after all this time? For a few hours, some were lead to believe that something had happened to her – and yet here she was, unharmed.

Before more could be said, the tomboy picked up her pace and strode towards the one person she had needed a hug from in a long time. Holding her arms out, Elizabeth stepped forward. And in one swift movement, Annastacia Moonshine fell into her mother's arms without question. Feeling hopelessly and utterly relieved.

* * *

_**Piscesgirl09:** Wahey! Chapter 21 finally up and ready - sorry it's been so long peeps! School work has been um...shall we say tiring and quite a lot of work to be done - however I gave my best with this chapter. It's not the same as the others (as you've already spotted), but I hope you can start to see how the plotline is starting to develop and I hope with more upcoming chpapters you appreciate some the decisions my OCs make. Hope you all enjoy and stay tuned for chapter 22 :) Cheers!_


	23. It's Not Knowing, It's Understanding

The morning after Anna's return, everyone had returned home and decided to have a lie in for the weekend. All except a certain bluenette, who was walking out of his bedroom shirtless in a pair of baggy pants for his pyjamas. Although he did manage to get some sleep, it had only been a few hours between midnight and 6am.

Tousling his hair, Kai made his way out of the dojo into the garden. Outside was beautifully still as the sun began to rise slowly in the east, perhaps except for the odd stir of a leaf or the cheep of a bird. As gaze wandered around the garden, the Russian slowly allowed his body to sink into a relaxing calm as he sat on the wooden decking.

"Kai?" A voice almost startled the amethyst eyed teen from his thoughts. Turning, he felt his heart rate slow down as he saw who was there: Anna. Although the morning was slightly cool, the tomboy was clad only in a tank top and boxer shorts, her pale skin adorning a dazzling gleam as the sunlight streamed on her body.

"Morning." The Phoenix blader greeted softly as the brunette sat down next to him, his eyes betraying a hint of concern at his friend awakening so early in the day. The blue eyed female gave a small smile as she turned to look at Kai.

"Morning." She replied in a murmur, rubbing her eyes as they flicked from one place to another. A tense moment of silence held the atmosphere, as the two teens sat together – very highly aware of each other's presence. Anna cleared her throat. "Couldn't sleep?" She asked, staring at the bluenette intently as his eyebrows furrowed slightly with thought.

It was then the young Moonshine could for once stop and admire her friend's profile: his two-toned blue hair swept in a thick mane across his head. A strong, powerful jawline. Sharp, defined features that were dark and mysterious. Mesmerizing amethyst eyes that never stopped watching…

"No." The young Hiwatari finally spoke, still sitting quietly beside her as his gaze continued to stare out into nothing, Perhaps he dared to admit to himself that the brunette had given him quite a fright yesterday – something he hadn't felt for a long time. Sensing something was not quite right, the tomboy shifted in her seat and placed her hand gently on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry about yesterday." She said softly. As Kai turned his dark eyes to look at her, he placed his hand over the one placed on his shoulder and examined her. The way her hair sat forlornly about her neck, the way her eyes were no longer hard and icy said it all for her.

Drawing her to him with his muscular arms, the Russian wrapped an arm around her waist and held her close. "Don't be." He murmured into her hair as her head rested on his broad shoulders, planting the tiniest of kisses. Feeling his lips brush the dark strands, the blue eyed female felt herself melt into his body.

If one thing hadn't changed, it was the comfort of the bluenette's presence: Anna had been hugged before by others. But no one was like Kai – she didn't know what it was about him that made him desirable, yet it was strong and very potent. Reluctantly the brunette pulled away and looked into his amethyst eyes. "How did you know I would come back?" She asked.

For a moment, the young Hiwatari said nothing. Slowly he brought his hand top her face. Let his fingers slide across her cheek to her wild hair. Pulled her in to his lips. Sometime before, these kisses had been forbidden; dangerous to even think about. But with that possibility no longer in existence, the two teens could fly off into a world of their own.

The pair broke apart, staring at each other as both knew each other's heart were thudding with exhilaration. "Because neither of us can bear the thought of each other suffering alone." He whispered through the wafer thin gap between their faces, unable to tear his eyes away from hers.

Before anything more was said, the tomboy moved back in to claim the Russian's mouth once more. It was strange. These kisses from her lover – they had shared them years ago, and yet the blue eyed female could never get her head round it. It was so familiar and natural, yet it felt new; something different and exciting.

Kai slipped his arm round her waist once more and pulled the petite brunette on to his lap. Straddling his hips, Anna wound her arms around his neck. Before the two knew it, they slipped into a place where nothing else mattered anymore: it was just them. Everything around them felt almost non-existent – the only sound was that of their breathing.

After what felt like hours of time had slipped away, the pair of stubborn teens slowed their moment end. Sitting with her nose brushing the bluenette's, the young Moonshine gave a small smile as she nestled into him, his arms holding her tightly against his broad chest.

"What do you want to do now?" The tomboy murmured into the young Hiwatari's neck. The Russian felt his eyes slide shut as he moved back to lie on the decking, bringing the brunette gently down with him. Sunshine continued to rise as it shone down warmly on the sleepy teens. Anna raised her head from the Phoenix blader's chest and lifted her fingers to brush a stray hair away from his face.

The amethyst eyed teen sighed gently as he felt the blue eyed female's fingers brush sensually against his skin. Taking her hand, he started to kiss her fingers. "Stay with you." He murmured back, opening his eyes to see a pair of beautiful blue ones staring at him through dark eyelashes. Both of them slowly got up and started to make their way back to their room, one arm each around each other's waists.

Shutting the door behind them, the couple got onto the bed and laid on their sides as they stared at each other. The sun never left them as its rays shone through the thick pane of glass - to them, it felt as though they were finally breaking free of their doubts, of their hesitation to be together once more. The Winged Unicorn blader felt herself sigh as she turned on her back and looked up at the ceiling.

"Do you ever get the feeling where you want to sleep, but your body and mind just won't let you?" She murmured quietly, though it sounded more to herself rather than being directed at Kai. Rolling over, the bluenette wrapped his arms around the tomboy's waist and rested his head gently on her stomach.

"Hm." He replied, nestling himself as he made himself comfortable. The brunette's fingers played with his soft, silky hair as she rolled her eyes, giving a slight snort of laughter as she shifted in her seat. Partially because this was so typical of her friend to relax only when they were alone together, sharing his body heat as the soporific effect settled in.

"Oh of course you know - whilst using me as some sort of pillow." She joked, stretching herself out as she sunk back into the pillows. Smirking devilishly, the young Hiwatari lifted his head to look at her before, starting raise himself higher towards her chest. "Well now that you mention it..."

"Uh - no! Don't even think about it!" The young Moonshine suddenly flipped them both over, so that she was sat on the Phoenix blader's hips. The stoic blader's amethyst eyes snapped open indignantly as he looked up at his partner, whose dark eyes were dancing mischievously as a small smirk played on her lips.

"Oh comfortable now, are we?" Kai commented slyly, holding her hips as he gave a suggestive smirk. If one thing he had in common with any male across the world, he certainly wasn't complaining that he had an attractive girl like Anna sat on top of him. Poking her tongue out at him, the blue eyed female suppressed a giggle - this was what she loved about spending time with him. They could share jokes and have a nice time without anyone saying anything against it.

Leaning down gracefully, she placed her lips on his. For a moment, the bluenette brought his steady hand up to cup her face as they stayed like that. Releasing him, the tomboy looked at the Russian with her ocean like orbs, her expression almost unreadable. Saying nothing, he brought her face back to his and gave a small sigh of contentment.

Rolling them over once more, his powerful body moved over hers as he cradled her head whilst keeping an arm around her waist, lowering the Winged Unicorn blader down onto the bed gently as her arms snaked around his neck. Without thinking or reason, her body moved up to press against his - she wanted feel every inch of him. She wanted to feel those strong muscles bearing her down as she lay flat on her back.

The young Hiwatari responded willingly, holding her close as his hand found her dark hair. Her soft lips were working sensually against his - gosh, it had been so long since he had felt them. And it wasn't till now that he realised how much he missed that physical contact, the warmth that welcomed him whenever he needed comfort or peace.

He gently released her lips before moving off her to lie on the bed next to her. Shuffling over, the brunette rested her in the crook of his neck, allowing a pair of longer arms wrap around her protectively. Soon the couple felt their eyes shut as they were contented to finally sleep a while. After about half an hour or so, there was a small tap at the door.

Getting up, the blue eyed female stretched and moved off the bed towards the door. Opening it, she felt herself relax as she saw who was there: Elizabeth. "Morning sweetheart. Have you got a moment?" The green eyed female smiled faintly at her daughter. Anna returned to smile and pulled the door open to let her mother in.

As the elder Moonshine sat down on a chair, she watched the younger move back to sit on the bed. Kai got up to wrap his arm around his partner's shoulders, offering a small smile at Elizabeth. The mother felt her heart swell at the scene: finally, the two had found a way to work it out between them - and even better, they had accepted whatever was between them and now they looked completely happy.

"This morning?" She asked pleasantly, failing to suppress a grin as she watched the tomboy's eyes sparkle as she looked at the amethyst eyed teen. The couple both nodded as they too couldn't stop themselves smiling. Not even they, one of the few most self controlled individuals in the world, could hide the utter bliss of being able to be themselves and taste the freedom to be with who they choose.

Elizabeth then paused for a moment, looking both the teens in the eyes as she got ready to say what she needed to say. "I know I wasn't very forthcoming in the beginning about what had happened - in some ways I'm still quite puzzled myself about this. But you deserved to know the truth about your father and your sister, so I'm sorry I didn't tell you. As any mother would do, I was trying to protect you both until you were ready to comprehend the information.

"But as it stands, what with Tom returning and our family gradually gathering arms, it was inevitable that somehow you would find out. However you may feel at the moment, we do have to some time in the future bring everyone back together and make things right." There was another pause as the golden brown haired female cleared her throat.

"I understand that what happened to both of you has left you scarred, and I don't expect you to forgive your father for what he did. I just hope that you will judge things fairly, because if he hadn't have been possessed by our enemy - I'm quite sure things would have turned out differently. And in the long run, I hope one day you might realise that.

"But all I ask of you is that you will accept that I have chosen to find my husband and be with him again: I don't expect you to follow my decision, and I would advise that you give very careful consideration before you make your choice. Both of you are mature, well brought up young people who now have a choice as young adults - you have your own mind. I honour that entirely." Elizabeth finished, her eyes never leaving the couple as they sat there listening.

Although this seemed quite soon for the two of them, neither of them could deny that the elder Moonshine was right. Soon they would all have to reunite - and that would mean making things up with Nicholas Moonshine. One way or another. The thought somewhat frightened the brunette: she couldn't even remember him that well. She tried to summon a memory of his face - but all she could see was blur of what he used to be.

Looking at each other, the Russian and the blue eyed female made their decision. It was time to stop running and face the past. The Phoenix blader's lips grazed the tomboy's forehead as his grip tightened on her. Sighing, she turned back to look back at her mother with a tired smile. "Do you what you have to do." She spoke softly, feeling herself calm as she felt her lover's breath by her neck.

Nodding, Elizabeth rose from her chair and moved to gather them in her arms. Neither resisted and openly moved into the embrace - in a way, this was a blessing from Anna's mother. Not in a sense of permission, but in the good will that she hoped that they would be together for a long time and that they were happy together. "Thank you." The elder Moonshine murmured gently, moving swiftly away to exit the room.

Just before she walked through the door, she spotted out of the corner of her eye the couple fall peacefully back onto the bed. In her eyes, there couldn't have been more of a man like Kai to keep her daughter happy - he was simply the best.

* * *

"Want to talk about it?" The bluenette asked bluntly as soon as Elizabeth left the room, looking the Winged Unicorn blader in the eye as she looked at him blankly. He knew that her mother's decision was going to bug her non-stop and he didn't want her suffering alone. The tomboy sighed as sat up again, crossing her legs as she toyed with her beyblade.

"No." She replied, her voice oddly quiet as she stared at the grey-blue metal that sat between her fingertips. She felt the bed shift as the Russian moved to sit in front of her. Looking into his serious expression, she could see that he was determined to find out what was agitating her. Again she gave a sigh.

"Ok, I am worried about my father returning to the family after everything that has happened. But it's not just that - if it wasn't for the fact that the Stardust Girls are now breaking up and we've got another upcoming tournament -"

"The Stardust Girls are breaking up?" The Phoenix blader interrupted, looking for once quite surprised. In all the time he had known the girls, he would never have thought it would come to this: they had been together for a long time and knew each other so well - almost as well as Anna and Kai knew each other. So why had they decided now was the time to break some ties?

The brunette felt her eyes slide shut as she tried to summon her voice to give an explanation, the memory of the conversation the group had still ringing uncomfortably in her ears.

_**It's not the same as it was before...we're moving on...we're holding each other back...**_

In all honesty, the blue eyed female herself couldn't believe that it was coming to this either. Perhaps for the first time in a long time, she could admit that those girls had been few of the best things in her life that had ever happened to her. They had been so supportive over the years, and without their friendship, their courage, their skills, and their absolute unadulterated will to never leave her side - she didn't know how she would've survived.

"It was a week ago we discussed it - and tomorrow we're making it official." Anna finally spoke, her voice barely above a whisper, opening her eyes to find the amethyst eyed teen's hands cupping her face as he looked at her intently with concern. Probing her for more. She swallowed.

"It hasn't been the way it was since I left the team. I was going to give up beyblading for good - but then Mr Dickenson said he wanted me to be part of the Bladebreakers. I didn't refuse because I saw potential to expand my skills amongst other things by being with you as a group. But...the Stardust Girls took it quite hard.

"Becca has been trying her best as captain, to keep things together. But then it became like jenga: once I was taken away from the structure, everything else fell with it. They couldn't cope without me, and without my influence, they started to change. In some ways I'm glad it's happened." The tomboy paused for a moment, biting her lip as she chose her words carefully.

"I'm glad because finally I'm seeing the girls fly the nest and being themselves - it had been something that I'd been waiting for a while. I saw from the beginning that they all had many interests and talents to discover. But somehow, for a long time, they seemed content to stay in my shadow and follow my lead. Rather than being themselves.

"So once I left, it was a window of opportunity for all of them to start finding their feet. Granted, they still loved to do what we used to do. Yet it didn't clear the tension that was brewing. I know they resented me for leaving them, and I understood that. Eventually, I decided to call a meeting and finally face what was inevitable."

Once the Winged Unicorn blader finished, she closed her eyes as she felt a strange sensation burn in the pit of stomach. Before she knew it, Kai had drawn her into his arms and was hugging her tightly. In short, she was going to miss the Stardust Girls. As much as she knew it was for the best, she couldn't suppress a twinge of sadness at what was now going to stop. Before, her pride would've said that she could now be free of her childhood and move onto to being an adult.

And yet, after all these years: Annastacia Moonshine had grown to love what the Stardust Girls stood for. The muscular male gave a sigh as he rocked the petite female gently in his embrace. "You did the right thing. It's not easy - because each time the Bladebreakers break up, I can't help but miss them sometimes. Even though they drive me crazy." He said gently, feeling his girl smile slightly at the last part of the sentence.

The brunette hugged the Russian back as she felt her heart sink. She didn't understand why this was hurting for her - but then she realised that she now had the same look her mother wore as she watched her, Kai and Tom. The mixed pang of joy and sorrow at watching people flourish once you lift the rules and set them free: sorrow for seeing them leave and no longer needing you constantly; but joy for seeing them finally find other ways of living life the way they want to.

"I want to see my father." She suddenly said, not knowing where that came from or why she said it. But as the bluenette planted a kiss on her head and gave her squeeze, she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer just yet.

* * *

The phone started to ring. Elizabeth held the phone, her hand shaking slightly as she waited in anticipation. Nothing could describe what she was feeling at the moment - her reaction as so mixed that it was almost impossible to put a finger on it. But like her daughter, she didn't want to know why she wanted to see her husband. She just wanted to hear his voice.

Tom was nearby, watching his mother with wary eyes as he sat with his arms crossed. He didn't know what to think either - he knew his father had acted only because he hadn't been in his right mind; that the enemy had taken chance and manipulated it into something that had devastating consequences. And yet the dark haired male couldn't help but feel angry.

How his father didn't it coming; didn't stop all of this from happening. But the green eyed male knew that was unfair in his logical mind: why would any father wish that upon his family? Of course he wouldn't! But right now, Tom knew that he certainly didn't envy being in his father's shoes. "It's ringing." He heard his mother say softly.

Before long there was a click. The golden brown haired female felt herself freeze - the phone had picked up at the other end. "Hello?"

Elizabeth shut her eyes. His voice. Yes. It was. He was alive. She was with him once more. Clearing her throat, she opened her mouth to speak.

"Nick."

* * *

**_Piscesgirl09/xXxCometxXx:_**_ Here it is! Chapter 22 up and running - ready for you all to read! Sorry again and again for not updating in a while: I have been trying my best, and as it stands so far, I have around 1 more chapter each for 3 other stories that are in progress - so fingers crossed they'll be up soon! Hope you all enjoy this one =) Thanks!_


	24. Blind Eye

_**The following said story 'Love is like Fire...' is strictly property of Piscesgirl09©.**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check, Callum Fennel, Elizabeth Moonshine and Thomas Moonshine belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters.  
**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check, Callum Fennel, Elizabeth Moonshine and Thomas Moonshine's auto biographies exclusively belong to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters auto biographies.  
**_

_**The storyline of the story 'Love is like Fire…' belongs exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of this very storyline.  
**_

_**The ideas put forward to the creation of 'Love is like Fire…' belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very ideas. **_

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I do not claim possession of any individuals of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the individuals of Beyblade auto biographies.  
I do not claim possession of any of the original storyline of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the ideas put forward in the creation of Beyblade.**_

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_**Thank you for your co-operation.**_

* * *

"As of today, the Stardust Girls are officially breaking up." Anna announced to all of the beybladers sat in front of her in the dojo, her face unchanging as she scanned the array of stunned expressions gazing back at her. Deep down, however, she couldn't suppress the overwhelming feeling of…sadness.

Because the Stardust Girls hadn't been just an addition to her life: they were a part of it; the fabrication of her career; the foundations of her friendships. And yet now she was saying goodbye - she couldn't help wondering whether she would feel empty without all of it? "For good? You guys are finishing for good?" Hilary, Mariah and Julia choked out in a garbled mess of shock, not quite believing what was happening. For pretty much all of the beybladers sat in the room, they could never have imagined this extraordinary group of girls being anything other than the Stardust Girls.

"Yes. Although it has been…an extraordinary experience," The tomboy started as she tried to gulp the lump in her throat, a ghost of a smile flashing at her former teammates, "We have decided that we have all developed enough that we want to pursue our own enterprises - we've changed."

The blue eyed female then paused and bit her lip as she spotted the girl's eyes starting to fill up with tears. As much as the young Moonshine was full of pride, she couldn't deny that this was difficult. Seeing her friends emotional at some points would trigger a twinge in her heart - maybe even a tear in her eye.

Swallowing, she looked directly at her former teammates. "Although we're not officially a band any longer - I can say one thing's for certain: the bond we have will not go away on my watch. You girls are part of my life, and to say goodbye to that will not even be on my deathbed. So in the face of the future all I would like to say is - thank you."

Upon her last word, the Stardust Girls did the one thing that they had never done before: leapt up, before the eyes of many, and ran to gather their former leader into a tight group embrace. Whilst everyone was expecting the tomboy to push them away - she did quite the opposite. She allowed them to gather around her, and embraced them back.

* * *

Later, Anna was sat sorting through her paperwork for the Network - despite the fact that she had been extremely busy with organising everybody else's life as well as her own, she had somehow managed to still keep on top of the endless information being supplied by gangs across the world, flocking to her authority. _At least most of them do as they're damn well told, unlike some people outside of it..._ She thought gruffly, quickly scanning through odds and ends of day logs, evening logs, special cases, profiles.

She then came across a particularly interesting file that managed to capture her attention, which was labelled 'A CONCERN': according to a gang located in Russia, dating about 3 months ago, there had been some strange activity occurring near the Abbey where she had lived in for a significant portion of her childhood in Moscow. Frowning, she went back to her computer and started to investigate it - the reports had been ongoing for at least several days at the time, documenting 'flickering lights in the building', 'muffled noises that sounded like crashing objects' and 'one or two moments, seeing cloaked figures staring out of the windows'.

As much as the Abbey had become destitute and virtually inhabited - the tomboy had a very nasty feeling that this wasn't just some odd Tom, Dick or Harry poking about the place. She could remember it now: the lonely grey building with nothing outside but snow and dead trees. The dark corridors that had no light, save for the occasional lamp hanging from a wall or the torch carried by the imposing guards that secured the place. The pungent smell of unwashed children as they sat frightened in their barred off cells...the splatters of blood...

Snap. The brunette looked at her hand to see that the pencil she had been holding was now broken - crushed by the power of the fist that was now formed. Releasing the bits of wood that fell silently onto the desk, she could see that her hand was now shaking quite violently. The Abbey was the one place in the world which still to this day made bile rise in her throat - it was about the last and absolute word in describing the true insanity of mankind. It was the place where some of her worst nightmares began, and could never forget.

Sighing heavily, the young Moonshine rubbed her neck and went back to the task at hand. At last, she found the report and opened it - quite clearly, she could see why the gang had been so worried about these sightings. Just by looking at the photos, it was clear something was not right. She stared at the screen as she came across one particular photo: it was outside the Abbey, in the middle of the night with the moon shining down on the place like a haunted house - that was she when she spotted it.

A hooded figure stood just to the side of the building, where there was a graveyard full of tombstones - endless rows of children who had died in that place - sometimes as young as five years old. But the most disturbing part of the picture was the message that had been written on the ground: _invenīam tū._ **I will find you.**

Feeling her blood run cold, the blue eyed female stood up to rush out of the room - only to run into Kai. "Shit!" She exclaimed as she jumped away from her boyfriend, crashing back into her chair as she tried to balance herself. The bluenette frowned as he watched her reaction, sensing that something had upset her enough for her to be so jumpy all of sudden - it just wasn't like her to look like she'd been spooked by a ghost.

"What's going on?" He demanded, his eyes straying from his shaking girlfriend to the computer screen. Spotting the image, the Russian moved forward to get a closer look. The Winged Unicorn blader went pale as she too leapt forward to try and stop him from seeing the photo.

"It doesn't matter -"

"You think that _this_ doesn't matter?!" The amethyst eyed teen cut across her, jabbing his thumb at the picture - for once, he too was rattled by it. Just by seeing the Abbey made him feel sick - but the message left there was so frightening that now the couple were starting to get agitated.

"It's just a message!"

"So?! This isn't just some kind of coincidence - no one even in their wrong mind would want to go there and write something like that! Who would do something like that?"

"I don't know, Kai! I was looking through the paperwork while I had a spare moment and only just came across the file - I must've overlooked it, and certainly no one else in that area bothered to notify me further!" Anna replied, her tone although appearing calm, had an underlying tone of distress to it. The Phoenix blader sighed heavily through his nose.

"So there's a whole file on it?"

"Yes, reporting sightings of hooded figures doing something - nobody knows what - _inside_ the building itself. Plus the gang said they heard strange noises coming from the inside, which sounded like crashing objects. Apart from that, what else could they do? Protocol says that the Network cannot intervene unless they are certain there's something incorrect going on and they have the necessary warrants to search the place - the gang patrolling that place can't prove anything unless we go there ourselves." Finishing her explanation, Anna took a moment to inhale gently through her nose to calm herself down. Luckily, the door was shut so no one else could possibly hear what was going on. But it didn't make her feel any better.

Kai paused for a moment as he looked from the computer screen to the tomboy, who was now stood up pacing the room her arms folded tightly across her chest. Getting up, he walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders and looked at her pale face. "How long ago with this?" He asked quietly.

The brunette swallowed as she looked back at the computer, debating whether to just drop the subject or confide in her boyfriend. Seeing as he seemed determined to find out what was bugging her, she knew that she probably wouldn't have much success in trying to dismiss something that was clearly important - although the Network could only view it as suspicious activity, there was something in both the blader's guts that told them this was far bigger than it seemed.

"3 months ago the sightings were made - I think you already know the location." She muttered bitterly, trying to shove the memories that she really didn't want to recollect to the back of her mind. The bluenette's feature's hardened too with the unwelcome reminiscence of the Abbey and the scars it had left him from the moment he was born - he snapped out his daze when he felt a hand cup his cheek.

The Russian looked down to see the blue eyed female staring up at him with those dark eyes. "We'll get to the bottom of it somehow...just not today. There are...too many bad memories." She murmured, looking down as she moved to look out of the window, where her friends were chatting and messing around outside. Saying nothing more, the Phoenix blader followed his girlfriend and wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin her shoulder.

Then a sudden buzz in the Winged Unicorn blader's pocket broke the silence - cursing under her breath, she pulled out her phone to see none other than Mr. Dickenson ringing her. "No sleep for the bloody good, eh?" She muttered as she answered the call, causing the amethyst eyed teen to gulp down his laughter at her pissed off attitude, "Hello?"

"Ah, Anna! Sorry to bother you at the weekend - I know you've been working quite hard and must be wanting a break, but I just wondered if I could have a brief word?" The ever cheerful BBA chairman greeted pleasantly down the phone - Anna knew that if she saw the old man's face, he was probably chuckling at her tone of voice - pretty much showing she was less than pleased to hear from him.

Rolling her eyes, the tomboy bit her tongue from replying sarcastically to the elder and moderated herself. "If you wish." She replied monotonously. Just then, she felt a certain young Hiwatari starting to kiss her neck luxuriantly, his warm lips gliding gently across her skin as he nuzzled into her hair. _Sneaky bastard..._ She thought, knowing that her mischievous boyfriend was now going to make it very difficult for her to have conversation whilst he 'distracted' her.

"Excellent! Now I wanted to let you know that as of today, I have organised another tag team tournament this year, seeing as the last one proved to be quite successful. However, there were some other queries that came up as I was going through the paperwork that I need to now discuss with you - so when would be a good time for you?" Mr. Dickenson announced, his tone still jovial - yet the brunette knew the senior better than that. She could pick a slight tone of urgency somewhere in his voice - and judging by that, there was no way she could avoid the discussion.

She then felt Kai's hands starting to move very sensually around her hips, going just underneath the hem of her shirt to massage her skin with his strong fingers. Feeling her treacherous body yielding to his touch, the blue eyed female closed her eyes as she tried to regain her concentration. "Very well. I'll meet you today at 3pm in your office. I'll bring my paperwork too." She sighed, hoping that the BBA chairman would detect the note of desire lingering there as she felt her self control slip away with each stroke of her boyfriend's skilled hands.

"Thank you very much, Anna - this is greatly appreciated! Enjoy your morning and I shall see you later!"

"And to you too." The petite female responded, ending the call just in time as she dropped her phone. Realising that that the conversation was now over, the Phoenix blader began to tug at her shirt while slowly undoing the buttons. The young Moonshine sighed as she started to move them backwards away from the window, a hand reaching behind her to comb her fingers through that thick, soft two toned blue hair that she loved the feel of.

Chuckling, the Russian then slipped his hands of her bra covered breasts and started to massage them sensually - gasping, Anna leant back into his muscled torso as she her heartbeat rose along with her chest to match her now slightly faster paced breathing. "Looks like someone is already enjoying her morning..." The bluenette whispered huskily in her ear, his hot breath tingling as it hit her.

Most people saw the couple as two individuals who anyone would want to have as a partner - whether it be their looks or their brains that was wanted. But what many soon found out was that there was so much more beneath the surface of their personalities that was intense and provocative - word and feeling would never be given lightly; every action towards each other meant something other than just an outside meaning. Each kiss, each caress, had a message behind it: when they couldn't say how the truly felt, or find an emotion to express it.

Then there was a sudden knock at the door. Exhaling irritably, the couple broke apart and quickly adjusted themselves as best they could - anyone would be able to see by their rumpled exterior that they had been doing a little exploration. Marching forward briskly, the tomboy yanked open the door to find Abi there, looking slightly pink.

"Um sorry...do you have a moment to spare?" The white blond haired girl asked timidly, taking in her former leader's less than warm welcome.

Tongue in cheek, she turned to Kai and sharply motioned for him to leave. As the bluenette walked past behind the Butterfly blader, he gave her one last lingering look before striding away towards the outside of the dojo.

Suppressing the urge to satisfy her desires, the blue eyed female let her friend in and shut the door gently. Despite the fact that she was forcing herself to focus, she couldn't stop the recent memory of her recent interaction with her boyfriend - granted they had sometimes experience something similar in times before, never had she felt anything so powerful coarse through her body like lighting a trail of gunpowder, where at the end - the chemical reaction would be something so strong it would be almost too surreal to relive.

"So. What's up?" The brunette finally asked, turning to look at her tall willowy figured friend. Abi blushed even more as she braced herself to bring up a topic that she found not only highly embarrassing, but also something she had never felt before in her life. And never in a million years did she ever think that she would turn to someone like Anna for the advice she really needed.

"I...I...I'm not sure myself. I mean - it's never happened before - I'm not even sure I'm even thinking along the right lines -"

"Spit it out - I've got the old codger Dickenson asking for my time and I'm meant to be there in 45 minutes." The Winged Unicorn blader cut in rudely, getting impatient as she looked tersely at her watch. As much as she cared for her friend very dearly, now really wasn't the time for her time to be wasted. Going from a nice shade of scarlet to magenta, the blond haired female gulped as she hurriedly said what she needed to say.

"I think I like your brother."

Now that for once was not quite what the young Moonshine was expecting. She knew that Miss Wise here was a very sensible young lady and didn't usually spend her time looking around for compatible young males - so for her to come to Anna with that revelation was perhaps a small highlight to the day, if anything else. Raising a dark eyebrow, she looked out of the window at where her brother was stood practicing none other than his beyblading skills with the rest of the youngsters.

"Ok...so what are you going to do about it?"

Abi blinked as she checked that she heard that right - personally, she was expecting the tomboy to berate her or even mock her for having these feelings. Even though she couldn't help herself: for a few days now, she had been drawn to the eldest Moonshine sibling - his irresistible charm made butterflies race in her abdomen. And she enjoyed his company too; he was always talking to her and taking an interest in what she was studying, her beliefs, her ideals, her plans. He always spared a moment for her, and never had she felt more flattered by the attention of a male as such before in her life.

"You don't - have any objections? I mean he is your brother - I know that there are plenty of other girls about who would probably be better for him than me." The Butterfly blader replied humbly, looking down at her feet as she felt the dark, intense stare of the tomboy bore into her. The blue eyed female frowned as she watched her former team mate describe herself with complete lack of confidence.

Never for one moment had she ever thought that this thoughtful, intelligent, caring young woman was below any other female that resided on this earth - in fact, she regarded her as someone who deserved so much more respect and attention than she received. Abi was always regarded as a 'nerd', shoved to one side out of the limelight where the rest of the once great Stardust Girls would take over with their beauty and their confidence.

But what the brunette and many of her friends saw behind the 'good girl' mask, when the white blond haired female let her shyness go and allowed herself to bloom, there was a very graceful and strident young woman who could have every opportunity laid in front of her if she wished it. And in any case, the former Stardust Girl leader couldn't think of anyone better matched to her brother than Miss Wise.

Stepping forward, the Winged Unicorn blader put a firm hand on her friend's shoulder and looked her directly in the eye whilst speaking quietly. "What you keep failing to realise is that any man would be lucky to have you. And as for whether I have any objections, it's not my duty to tell you what to do when it comes to your love life - you're now 19 and an adult. I advise you to be prudent, but that you have a firm handle on that already." Releasing the now stunned Abi, she swept past and made for the door.

The Butterfly blader didn't know what to say: her former team leader had just said that she was alright with her having a relationship with her problem - no problem whatsoever! This was turning out to be a strange day indeed. Before leaving the room, Anna turned back and gave her former team mate a small, rare smile. "And by the way, my brother liked your vegetarian dish that you made him this week."

Turning away from the white blond haired female's stunned face, the young Moonshine felt that irresistible curve in her mouth - unable to suppress the overwhelming sense of glee as she couldn't waited to see a rather intriguing relationship begin to develop even more than it already had done...

* * *

"Aha! Anna - do come in!" The ever jubilant Mr. Dickenson greeted Anna with a bright smile as he opened the door of his office, his bright eyes twinkling as he took in her less than enthusiastic face. Although deep down, the elder knew that she was probably excited just like everyone else about the upcoming tournament - but as ever, she would show it in her own different way.

Regarding him with a tilt of her chin, the tomboy swept in coolly as she went to sit at the chair facing the BBA chairman's desk. Sitting upright, she waited for him to sit down before she spoke. "What can I do for you, sir?" She asked politely, her tone monotonous as ever when it came to business. The senior suppressed a chuckle at the stubborn young teen's abrupt manner - she really wasn't having a good week and for once wasn't able to hide that irritation.

"You can relax, you know my dear - you're not under any restraints here, and I'm sure you could do with a break from the company you have at the Grangers." He said mischievously, winking as though they were little conspirators. Unable to stop a small smirk tugging at the corner of her lips, the blue eyed female leant back in her chair and let her hair down from its ponytail. As she surveyed the greying haired man in front of her, she noticed not for the first time how weary he was looking.

Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she couldn't ever imagine a beyblading world without Mr Dickenson. Even the thought of him not being there was enough to bring a pang to her heart. Squashing the thought, she looked at him again with her dark blue eyes. "So what was it that you needed to discuss with me? Plans for the tournament? Helping with the organising?" She hazarded a guess that once again, there would be someone who would want to benefit from her knowledge and skills in the sporting industry. But when she watched the BBA chairman shake his head, she wasn't sure whether to feel slightly surprised.

"I think this year you would do better to help prepare yourself and your partner for the tournament, as well as any other competition. There are two things however that might bring your attention: one is the possibility that the Moonlight Blader, the Eagle Eye or the Lone Cat might decide to enter the tournament." His voice was now a little more serious as he regarded the Winged Unicorn blader with slightly weary eyes.

For a moment, the young Moonshine could say nothing. She knew what the BBA chairman was getting out – the secret of the three unknown enigmas in the beyblading world was not something to be taken lightly. If all of the bladders found out their true identities, there would be mayhem. Only Mr. Dickenson and the Stardust Girls really knew why these three bladers existed. "I don't think they will this year." She replied quietly, choosing her words carefully as she returned the courtesy to take this seriously.

Nodding, the senior then continued with the next part of the discussion. "As you already know, your father and your sister will soon be returning to reunite your family – although I respect your mother's decision, I am slightly wary that it may be also in her interest to enter herself and your father as competition for the tournament also. As far as I have been informed, it is only a possibility and there has been no confirmation as of yet." He paused for a moment.

"But taking into consideration your past dealings with your father, I wanted to be sure that if that was the case, whether you had any strong objections to the proposal." Mr. Dickenson looked at Anna to try and find some sort of response from the young female: up front her face didn't change, but it was clear to the elder that it had shocked her – she was now staring blankly at his desk, her eyes frozen as though his words had touched her like ice.

"Anna?" He said softly, trying to call the tomboy out of her trance. Slowly raising her dark eyes to meet his concerned ones, she swallowed a lump in her throat. To the stubborn young teen, she couldn't quite fathom it – her feelings were so mixed that she wasn't sure whether she wanted to scream or cry or laugh or anything. Instead, her body had mind had gone so numb that she couldn't understand what it was she was supposed to be saying next.

"I'll think about it." The brunette whispered hoarsely, her voice forced as she got up from her chair and started to slowly make her way to the door. Feeling his heart sink, the BBA chairman closed his eyes despairingly as he watched her stagger in shock out of the office. He knew that it had been the right thing to do to let her know of what was going on – but that didn't stop the guilt that wrecked his heart at seeing the girl, who was like a granddaughter to him, walk out in obvious distress.

* * *

It was starting to rain heavily outside the BBA HQ, but Anna didn't care. She didn't know what had triggered her mood to go so downhill – after all Mr Dickenson was being vey considerate in letting her know about the circumstances. Yet she couldn't stop the feeling her gut that maybe she would've been happier in her ignorance. At the moment, nothing made sense to her anymore – everything was happening so quickly.

**She was walking up the Isshiiki beach that day – it was a cool, crisp afternoon; the air was sombre in atmosphere and the sun was shining brightly against an orange sky that was fading to lilac. It had been a week since her father and sister' s funeral: during that time she couldn't help but feel weaker, more vulnerable – despite the help of her friends and any other family she had left. She continued to walk. Then there was the ocean...**

The tomboy shook her head viciously as she continued stomping down the street, seeing flashing images of memories that she didn't want to remember.

**She was calling his name as she spotted his silhouette standing face forward out towards the large expanse of water, completely still. He didn't turn his head as she approached him; she didn't know whether he was even listening to her anymore. "Kai? What's the matter..."**

Feeling her heart thud faster, the brunette battled against the rain, which was falling in torrents. Her clothes were dripping wet, her skin was burning but she was oblivious to everything – then the shooting pains across her head started again. Growling in pain, she started to run – running away from her memories. Thunder started to roll.

"**I'm leaving for Russia tomorrow." He said quietly, still not looking at her as the words slipped past his lips in a hoarse murmur. She couldn't quite understand it: why was he being so serious about it? Why did the atmosphere feel like something out of a sad romantic movie? She placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to make him look at her. But he shrugged her hand away, refusing to meet her shocked blue eyes.**

"**Then I'll come with you." She whispered, trying to squash the uncomfortable feeling in her gut that something had turned the bluenette against her – now that she thought about it, he had been acting strangely recently – as though he was deliberately trying to ignore her.**

"**No."**

Her heart clenched as she gritted her teeth, running over the bridge where the river flowed beneath it. Stopping, she leant against the edge of the bridge, panting as she tried to control the pain in her head as well as the tears welling up in her eyes. _Please...please...please..._

**She was stunned. Had she just heard him right? What was going on here? Swallowing, she found her voice and continued to face him. "I don't understand." She said flatly. Finally, the Russian turned to look at her – his eyes were hard as he stared at her with no expression on his face. The blue eyed female stepped back involuntarily from his stare, feeling her mouth tremble as well as her heart.**

"**I'm leaving you Anna. I don't want you to follow me." He replied slowly. She blinked, completely shocked and unable to find an answer to that. She wanted to reach out to him, beg him to stay – whether her pride allowed it or not, she needed the Phoenix blader. But by the way he was looking at her as though nothing between them had ever happened, he had already made up his mind. And the young Hiwatari always stuck to his decisions.**

Crying, the young Moonshine pushed herself off the edge of the bridge and started walking again, feeling her body shuddering with pitiful sobs as she felt her feet drag across the ground. The thunder was getting louder as the rain fell mercilessly, lighting flashing across the black sky. Still oblivious to it all, she kept on walking as the pain in her head grew stronger, becoming more unbearable by the second.

**Although inside she felt like she was being torn apart, the Winged Unicorn blader nodded slowly. "I see." She whispered, her voice cracking ever so slightly as she looked down towards the ground. Unable to look him in the eyes anymore without feeling like she wanted to crumble in his arms. Whatever left of her dignity and her pride, she tried her best to hold on to.**

**Not saying another word, the amethyst eyed teen swept past her, perhaps brushing her ever so slightly with the soft material of his trademark scarf. Hearing his footsteps fade away as he walked away from the beach, Anna could no longer take it. Her body started to shake violently, realising that she had just lost the one person who understood her; who had been there for her through thick and thin – who had just walked away from her as though she had meant nothing to him at all.**

**Sucking in her breath, she faced the sea and let out the most almighty scream, falling to her knees as felt her heart being crippled with so much anger, hurt, loss – she didn't care whether the whole city of Tokyo could hear her – let them. Curling up into a ball, she started to sob quietly. **_**Oh Kai...how could you do this...**_

**But unknown to her, a pair of eyes were watching her...sadly...**

She was nearly back at the dojo now, so exhausted by the length of her walking and running in the storm whilst re-experiencing one of the most painful memories that had helped to destroy whatever spirit that she had for wanting to live anymore. But then she spotted a car outside the building – two people were now getting out. Her heart stopped as the larger of the two turned to face.

It was a male; tall, well built with a pale face – and dark, ocean blue eyes. His eyes. Her eyes. It was him. Nicholas Moonshine. Feeling the pain in her head suddenly hit its worst, she clutched her head and screamed. The sound was a high pitched, blood curdling scream that had everyone within the dojo up and running – even Anna was frightened by the sound of her own voice.

Before long, she felt her breath stop and her world started to fade to black – she was falling as her legs buckled beneath her. She didn't feel her body land with a hard thud on the ground. The last thing she heard were people shouting, perhaps even crying – just before her vision went, she saw those eyes again, hovering just above her face...

* * *

_**Piscesgirl09/xXxCometxXx: **Finally! New chapter ready for all you peeps to read - I hope it's not too heavy for you all (over 5000 words...!). I will admit that some future chapters may seem quite depressing - but don't panic! That's only a few of them and believe me, they will play a vital part in the story line - or at least I think so anyway! Thanks for reading =) Stay tuned! _


	25. A Bridge With No Fire

_**The following said story 'Love is like Fire...' is strictly property of Piscesgirl09©.**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check, Callum Fennel, Elizabeth Moonshine and Thomas Moonshine belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters.  
**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check, Callum Fennel, Elizabeth Mooonshine and Thomas Moonshine's auto biographies exclusively belong to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters auto biographies.  
**_

_**The storyline of the story 'Love is like Fire…' belongs exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of this very storyline.  
The ideas put forward to the creation of 'Love is like Fire…' belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very ideas. **_

_**I, Piscesgirl09, do not own Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any individuals of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the individuals of Beyblade auto biographies.  
I do not claim possession of any of the original storyline of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the ideas put forward in the creation of Beyblade.**_

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_**Thank you for your co-operation.**_

* * *

Everyone was sat in the dojo silently the next morning – the rest of the teams had gone back home, so the only people remaining were the Moonshine family and the Bladebreakers. Time went slowly as the tension hung in the air. Anna's sudden collapse out in the middle of a thunder storm had shaken everyone - particularly Elizabeth, who was now herself asleep in bed recovering from the trauma. The Stardust had fought, pleaded, even begged to stay to make sure that she was ok – but in turn were sent home like the rest. Waiting for a word that everything would be ok.

And Kai.

So far, the bluenette had not moved from his spot on the wall just outside the door that led to the bedrooms – he didn't even shift if he was uncomfortable or needing to do something else – that was if he even registered what was going on in his mind and around him. He just couldn't shake himself from the shock and the horror of what had happened. That high, frightened scream had awakened within him memories of when he and the tomboy used to live at the Abbey...where one wrong move would cost them very dearly...

* * *

"_Kai and Annastacia – you have behaved despicably – you have let down the Abbey's reputation and now you will be punished for your impudent behaviour." A strong, commanding male voice spoke from the shadows of the dungeon, making the two 6 year olds tremble slightly as the stomp of boots began to approach them. Stood before them was none other than Boris Balkov – his eyes glinted evilly from behind the blood red of the goggles he wore; his grin was manic and bordering on insane as he looked upon the pair with a sick sense of enjoyment._

"_Guards, kindly separate the two and take Miss Moonshine to the Shock Room – I shall deal with Mr Hiwatari here." _

_The young amethyst eyed boy quickly turned to see the brunette next to him look up at the guards with defiance glimmering in her bright innocent eyes, trying to stand strong against men who would easily over power her. Before either had a chance to move, the young girl was grabbed viciously by the arms and was dragged towards the dark corridors leading to where her first nightmares would begin._

"_ANNA!"_

"_KAI!" The blue eyed girl whimpered as she reached out to try and grab the young Phoenix's hand, though failing miserably as the guards roughly yanked her away from him and carried her away crying and struggling, her young girl's strength no match for their grown masculinity._

"_LET HER GO!" The young Hiwatari struggled with all his might against the grip some of the guards now had on his body, unable to control his tears as he helplessly watched the Russian men take his best friend away from him, her face completely frozen in blank horror as her pretty little face disappeared into the darkness – he would never forget the spark of fear in her eyes as she looked back at him once more before their nightmare would begin._

_Boris in the meantime laughed cruelly as he placed a hand on the young boy's head, gripping the hair tightly as he yanked his head up to make him look at him – he smirked as he saw the crystal-like tears running rapidly down pale cheeks, smudging away the blue triangles that were already a part of the boy's trademark appearance at such a young age. "Now my dear, Kai – this time you won't be the one facing physical punishment. Your special punishment I'm sure will be much more...memorable." He hissed gently in the boy's ear, feeling young limbs trembling violently under his hands._

_The bluenette felt himself gulp as he began to realise with growing hysteria what was about to enfold. "Please – don't hurt her – I'll do anything! Please – please!" He began to beg, gripping the older man pleadingly in attempt to spare his friend the unimaginable pain she would surely suffer. Smirking savagely at the pitiful way the boy was trying to reason with him, the purple haired maniac released himself and casually dusted himself down, as though he was already bored of any kind of negotiation._

"_Why, my young boy – I have already told you: this is your punishment! And maybe next time you think about defying me and your elders, you'll think about what might happen to your pretty little friend – let this be a lesson to you both. __**We are your masters here**__ – and if you ever forget that...be sure we will be quick to remind you." He said with a hint of sadism lingering in his voice, before letting out an evil cackle as he snapped his fingers. In an instant, there was a muffled sound of crackle of a microphone that filled the room – there were voices. Male ones. And the cry of a frightened young girl._

_The amethyst eyed boy's eyes widened as he listened to the young Winged Unicorn whimpering in the background, clearly moving frantically as the guards laughed mockingly at her – this was worse than having to go through what they had in store for her himself; being forced to listen a girl he loved suffer without being able to protect her made the boy cry even more. Satisfied that both were to be sanctioned as he saw fit, Boris swiftly turned on his heel and left the room without another word._

_Before long, there was a strange buzzing sound and a shrill yelp that rung throughout the room that made the Phoenix's heart clench painfully, unable to keep his eyes open as his body weakened under the iron grip the guards had on his arms, legs, shoulders. He knew exactly what those beastly guards were doing to her – the Shock room wasn't named like that for no reason: the bastards were electrically shocking Anna – and there was nothing the young boy could do about it._

_There was another buzz and this time a scream came – small and short at first, though gradually getting louder as the buzzes came more frequently. This was the worst form of torture the young Hiwatari had ever experienced; the screams reminded him of a caged animal, struggling against its captors, unable to properly voice the excruciating pain it was feeling. And the fact that the boy could only think of himself and the blue eyed girl as trapped animals was the horrific truth of what they had been reduced to. Soon the screams got quieter…and quieter…until it was if the young girl had lost her voice._

_After about half an hour of dread, the buzzing finally stopped and the room was silent, save for the quiet crackle of the live microphone before it was switched off with a beep. Everything remained still as Kai was held tightly, his head bowed over as endless tears dripped off his chin, his body limp like a broken doll. He was then suddenly hauled to his feet and forcefully moved towards the corridor that followed the path towards where the Shock Room was._

_A large steel door came into view as the guards continued to drag the boy with no mercy – the door opened slowly to reveal several guards now marching out of the room with evil grins on their faces. As the last one left, the bluenette felt his throat close up at what he saw: lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood was Annastacia Moonshine. She had been thrown on the floor, her leg clearly broken from the way it was twisted at an odd angle; there were multiple burns on her pale skin from where the electric shocks had penetrated her body._

_But what the amethyst eyed boy would never forget was the dead look in the young girl's dark blue eyes – the once innocent light that had made her eyes sparkle had now been diminished. Suddenly thrown forward, the boy fell painfully on the stone floor, too weak and frightened to watch the guards exit the room and shut the door heavily behind them. Slowly picking himself up, he made his way over to his best friend and knelt beside her, reaching out to carefully pull her to him and cradle her._

"_I'm so sorry." He whispered hoarsely, unable to shed anymore tears. If only he had the sense not to give in to temptation and go looking for Black Dranzer...then it wouldn't be Anna paying the price for his stupidity: she had told him – begged him not to go! And did he listen? No. Because one thing got the better of him – desire. A desire to be more powerful, more dangerous – maybe even for a mad moment he thought he could've commanded some respect from these cold hearted men who ran this Abbey like a Nazi concentration camp. But he then looked at the disastrous consequences of his actions, and knew he would never forgive himself for letting his selfishness put his best friend in harm's way._

_He looked down to see the brunette's arm had been sliced apart by a word that had been carved into her young delicate skin: __**Biovolt**__. His heart thumped at the word, bringing his gaze back to her face. Her features were completely frozen in place as she stared blankly into nowhere, her white lips sealed shut as she lay unmoving in his arms – she had never been so beaten before. Suddenly looking up at him, those dark eyes stared in something that was almost like a trance – as though the soul of Annastacia Moonshine had somehow been locked away deep inside, too frightened to ever come out again._

"_It doesn't matter." She finally croaked, her voice so unlike the young girl the young Phoenix was used to. Both of them had suffered physical injury before and dealt with it – but this was to a degree almost unbearable. Never had they experienced something like this before. The young boy looked into his friend's now glassy eyes and saw a single tear leave the corner of one, dribbling slowly down her cheek as time drew endlessly on. As the cold and darkness of the room began to fall, the two knew that this wouldn't be the last time this kind of punishment would ever occur again._

_It was also the last time anyone ever saw the Winged Unicorn cry for a very long time._

* * *

"Kai?" A small female voice brought the young Hiwatari back from his dark memories to now look down into a pair of bright green eyes. Lia – Anna's pretty little raven haired sister was staring seriously up at the boy she had known since the day she was born. He forced a small smile on his face as he reached out an arm to invite her into a small hug. The youngest Moonshine accepted the offer and snuggled up to his strong chest, needing some form of comfort right now. The Moonshine family were about the only people he would ever hug willingly – having gone through so much with them in the past, the bond he had with them ran deep and was almost impossible to explain.

"Do you think she'll be ok?" The raven haired girl asked quietly, murmuring into the bluenette's warmth as he held her tightly. For once, the amethyst eyed teen couldn't find an answer – his first instinct was to tell her that her sister would be just fine and everything would be taken care of, just like they all used to tell her when she was just a child. But then by taking a good look at how much she had grown, it was all too clear that her understanding was now beyond what she used to be as an 8 year old.

Dare he spare her the truth?

"I don't know, Lia. If I knew what was wrong, I'd do anything to fix it as quickly as possible – but like everything that has been for us, nothing's ever certain." The Russian replied softly, his eyes looking perhaps tender for a moment as his gaze met with the young girl's. Lia couldn't help but feel her heart drop; she desperately hoped her sister would make a full recovery – but then she also wanted to catch up on so many missed years that the two would've shared together.

The blue eyed female had been such a large part of the young girl's life: even as a child, she could never imagine a world without Annastacia Moonshine; she had been the person who had taught her to ride a bike, read the time, bake a cake, launch a beyblade –everything the second eldest Moonshine sibling had taught her had stayed with her for life, and the green eyed girl thought she was both lucky and blessed to have a sister.

The Phoenix blader started to fidget as there was still no sign of the tomboy. He couldn't settle the churning in his stomach at the thought of her being alone in a room with the man who had brought her so much misery – No, that wasn't fair, he told himself. The elder Moonshine was a good man; the change in his being was so evident to the amethyst eyed teen that he knew he wasn't looking at the same man who had once terrorised the girl he loved beyond all measure. But he just couldn't shake it. Yet he knew the time would come when the two dark haired males would finally talk to each other man to man – though this was not the right time. The brunette was the one who needed her father the most at the moment. So he let it be. For now.

Nicholas then walked through the door and stood before the group of teens. For the first time, the Bladebreakers were properly introduced to the man who had paternity over his son and two daughters – instantly, they could tell where certainly the two eldest Moonshine siblings got their physical presence from: the dark, intense characteristics that brought such power and strength to the man's features were admirable indeed.

But what struck the team was how true Elizabeth was in saying that the Winged Unicorn blader was so much like her father – the resemblance was striking! And yet judging from bits and pieces that had picked up on over these strange past few weeks, their relationship had once been less than desirable..."Anna is now awake. She has no illnesses or injuries of any sort, and she has made full recovery." The dark haired male cleared his throat awkwardly as he announced the news, watching as everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

The youngest Moonshine's expression immediately lit up as she broke away from the Phoenix blader, looking hopefully at her father. "Thank goodness! Can I go and see her now?" She asked excitedly, charming the hearts of everyone in the room; the Bladebreakers could only smile at the young girl, appreciating that she was so caring towards her family and was clearly the bright innocent one of the Moonshines – though they had no doubt that sooner or later they would find out that she had some particular talent that would make her such another part of this extraordinary family.

"You needn't look any further." A voice from the doorway made everyone jump. Up and standing in her pyjamas, there was Anna, her bright blue eyes alert as ever. Lia promptly rushed towards her sister and proceeded to give her a very big hug – although grimacing slightly having just woken up, the tomboy allowed herself to relax into the hug and gingerly pulled out an arm to wrap around her sister's shoulders to give her a little hug back. "Miss me, did you squirt?" She smirked as she was released from the embrace.

"It's so good to see you again, Anna! And I'm really glad you're ok." The raven haired girl exclaimed brightly, flashing a wide smile that even made the corners of the brunette's lips tug upwards. Despite his pride and everyone watching in the room, Kai walked over to his girlfriend and placed his forehead on top of her head, his arm slipping around her waist to hold her gently as he sighed, unable to verbalise the relief he felt at knowing she was back safe and sound in his arms. The gesture was returned with a small smile and a kiss on the cheek.

"Good. Right – everyone, get your stuff together; we're going out for the day - I believe we can afford to take a day off from training today, and my family need some expert tour guides." The elder Moonshine sibling turned to look at the rest of the team, although her tone was brisk her facial features certainly seemed a bit lighter – plus also, no one would dare complain at having time off from her strict training regime! The rest of the Bladebreakers sat on the floor promptly nodded and smiled as they started to get their stuff together. The bluenette only stared blankly at the elder male stood nearby, who was watching him also with an equally emotionless gaze.

"Where are we going Anna? Are there any art shops anywhere? I could do with practicing my drawing!" The youngest Moonshine tugged at her sister's sleeve, trying to conceal her excitement at the thought of being able to spend an afternoon with the teens who had been so kind and friendly to her since last night, as well as catching on lost time with her beloved older sister; as much as she was used to spending time occupying herself, she knew that was all about to change – and she couldn't thank anyone enough for it.

Her lips quirking into a small smile, the brunette made a shooing motion as she closed her eyes. "Never you mind – go and get ready before I change my mind." She answered calmly, watching as her sister giggled and bounded away quickly to go and prepare for a fun day out. She then turned to her father and looked at him. The same blue eyes met for a moment, staring at each other intently without wavering – the dark haired man then smiled warmly before walking off to also go and find his shoes.

The blue eyed female finally turned to the Russian, her smile no longer there as her expression went serious. "What do you want to do?" She asked him in a low voice – she had already thought about the possibility of putting her father with him for the day, and in all truthfulness, she wasn't sure whether it was a good idea. As much as the two were very similar in personality, she knew that perhaps it was asking too much too soon to have expected the water to flow from under the bridge yet. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, her boyfriend wasn't one to forgive very easily: some used to call it one of his pitfalls in his character – but they were swiftly given perspective after she had dealt with them.

As much as she was slowly beginning to believe that one should try to forgive others as you would want them to forgive you, it was impossible for her to expect it from the amethyst eyed teen – she had been through enough of her life together with him to know that he had suffered as much, or if not more so, than she ever had. The one saving grace she had was that she had enough family around her to stop her from falling into darkness, their wisdom and magic a constant guide; he never had that– any family he once had was dead to him. And with each day, time could be the only cure to heal the bitter resentment of knowing he had spent so many years of having nothing more to lose other than his beyblade and the people around him who spared the light of day for him.

The Phoenix looked back at the girl in front of him and studied her – whether it was because she had spoken with her father or by him returning she had found some way to get over her hatred towards him, the anger deep inside her was no longer prominent in that moment – there was a sense of her being at some sort of strange peace with what he had done to her. And this only prompted the teen to wonder what had been exchanged between the two Moonshines. "I'll come with you." He replied softly.

The petite female's face twitched slightly as her expression went from where it was once serious to slightly quizzical. But nevertheless, she respected his decision as always and went up on her tip toes to wrap an arm around his neck as she planted a small kiss on his cheek. "Ok." She whispered gently, her breath near his ear as she stood on her tip toes to reach him. Kai closed his eyes as he felt the gentle caress of her skin near his, tempted to just drag her back to their bedroom so they could have an afternoon together lying down on the bed, not having to think about what came next.

His feelings were so mixed at the moment, and both of them knew that if it wasn't for the fact that things needed to be sorted, the couple would just love to spend a couple of hours or more to just soothe each other with their presence. "Hn." He uttered quietly, turning his head to press his lips to the Winged Unicorn blader's as his arm sneaked around her waist to hold her in place, neither knowing why or what had prompted him to give in to the sudden affection. But judging by the way she responded and cupped his face tenderly, it showed that sometimes the two were just content to not always have a reason.

Breaking apart, the couple looked at each other once more before moving to go and continue with the day, resuming to their seemingly cold and distant exteriors as they always did when they were with company that wasn't intimate. And yet both bladers felt that unfamiliar spark of heat in their chests that told them moments like they had just then, were moments that were especially for them – where no one else could come between them.

* * *

"RAHHH! C'mon! How long does it take to get a haircut? All they have to do is chop it off and then it's done!" Came the irritated huff from the designated whine babies of the group. All of the Bladebreakers were currently sat waiting in a café, after having trekked around the town exploring and enjoying a relaxing day off, whilst the trio of females had gone off to the hairdressers – clearly feeling the need update the fashion department. The rest of the boys sighed heavily as they sat listening to Tyson and Daichi moaning and groaning continually.

"If that's your idea of a haircut, you certainly wouldn't make a very good hairdresser." Nicholas commented dryly. The Dragon blader's mouth dropped open in shock whilst the rest of the group burst out laughing – even Kai managed to crack a smile as he caught the eldest male's eye, both of them exchanging a mutual look of amusement as the World Champion tried to recover his dignity.

"Well at least I don't take over an hour to get my hair done!" The navy haired teen retorted. The dark haired Moonshine raised a slight eyebrow as his bright blue eyes flicked down to take a glimpse of his watch, as if to say – Didn't anyone ever teach you to read the time? – Because as far as time was concerned, the girls had only been gone for 20 minutes. But it was enough to set the boys off again with their sniggering, unable to contain how funny it was watching their team captain getting owned by another Moonshine. As much as they liked him for his outgoing and bubbly nature, his confidence could sometimes be just a little too much for people; so in the end, it probably didn't hurt that every once in a while there was someone mature enough to put him in his place.

As the laughter began to die down, the Russian took a moment to study the Anna's father: sitting there right now in front of him, there were some memories that were now clearer from seeing that face again – before, he struggled to even think what Nicholas looked like. But then he also knew he was familiar with the man, because whatever had been exchanged between the two, it felt almost _normal_ to sit within comfortable distance of each other's presence. Yet he had no doubt that they were both thinking the same thing – When would they finally talk to each other, man to man? "Hey guys! The girls are back!" Daichi piped up suddenly, breaking any line of thought.

As the bluenette's head turned, his world came to a stop. Indeed, the trio had returned from their trip – but the changes they had made were striking. Hilary's red-brown hair had been fashioned into a mid-length style, a side fringe sweeping across her face in a way that accentuated her cheek bones so that she looked mature for her age, but still exuded the air of a confident 16 year old. Lia's silky black locks had been styled into thick curls, the fringe that once hid her face now pulled back to show her off her oval face, which was now smiling brightly as her hair bounced around her shoulders.

And then he caught sight of the tomboy who wasn't far behind them. On cue, everyone else in the café came to a halt to look at her: the brunette had cut off her hair so that it was now in an asymmetric bob, layered spikily to bring out that edgy, rock chick quality that made her so attractive – everyone could now see her jawline, her elegant neck as she kept her head held up proudly, a confident smirk on her pale face as she watched everyone in sight submit to the strength of her presence, unable to tear their eyes away from her. The trio began to walk forward towards where the Bladebreakers were now sat.

"H-Hilary? Anna? Lia? What have you guys done? You all look so different!" The brown eyed male stuttered, seemingly unable to deal with the transformation – the raven haired female and the Japanese brunette giggled whilst the blue eyed female struggled to keep her face straight. Secretly, it was quite good to see the reaction from the people who had now seen her; it showed that she could still make a powerful impression on people – plus also, like any female, how could she not enjoy the prospect of having a new haircut? Even she knew the meaning of having self-respect for your image!

Nicholas merely chuckled as he got up to admire his two daughters and the team manager. "Well, well, well ladies! Are you three happy with your new haircuts?" He asked, a smile lighting up his eyes as he watched the two younger females blush slightly with the pleasure of knowing that every male in the room was now looking at 3 very beautiful young girls. The Winged Unicorn blader shrugged as she flashed her father a slight quirk of the lips.

"I should think so. Everyone ready to go?" She replied with a nonchalant expression on her face, though she didn't miss the way the Phoenix blader was staring at her with those dark eyes – it vaguely reminded her of the drunken night she had at Ray's birthday: there was a passion there inside his soul, and she knew that she was one of the few who had been behind his walls to meet that intensity, who had been witness to that roaring fire that could keep his closest friends warm and burn down his enemies with a vengeance.

"I think we are! We better get those two home before they start complaining again!" The American blader chuckled as he indicated towards where the younger redhead and the World Champion bladers were now sat, sulking at the comment as everyone continued to shake with mirth at their expense. Nodding, the young Moonshine turned sharply on her heel to leave the café, everyone else in the group following suit. As they all walked together down the street, two of the older males kept a certain distance behind, watching the rest of them in their chattering and laughter.

"I must say, I never thought Anna would be one to go for short hair – but as ever, she's proved everyone wrong." The eldest Moonshine stated fondly, looking to where his eldest daughter was sharing a private joke with her younger sister – despite the large gap between their ages, it was clear that the two were very close and like any father, he was happy to see the two of them beginning to spend their time together.

The young Hiwatari couldn't help but smile as he too couldn't keep his eyes of his girlfriend, completely besotted with her. "She has a habit of that – proving us all wrong." He replied quietly, unable to conceal that he was hinting at the fact that when the dark haired male next to him had been possessed, the tomboy often went out of her way to prove her father wrong – just so she would gain some attention from him; otherwise, like the rest of her many great achievements, she was ignored for the most part.

Of course, the elder Moonshine was not ignorant to what Kai was getting at: in fact, his thoughts kept jumping to the times when he had been unbelievably cruel to his children – the guilt that he felt inside was indescribable. He could only hope that by him being the man he used to be and getting involved in his children's lives before time ran out, he may be able to heal the relationships between each other. But he was also aware of what he had done the stoic teen walking beside him. As much as his focus was on his family, he knew that he had treated the boy just as badly – he allowed the likes of Voltaire and Boris to damage him beyond measure, and then compelled that by continuing that work.

He gave a sigh. "Kai, I know what I have done in my life. Some of it may have been out of my control, but that doesn't change the fact that I am in the wrong: I have treated all of you, particularly Anna and yourself, in a way that is far from being called a father – I can no more deny that I was weak enough not to fight that evil no more than I can deny that my family are the sole part of my existence." Nicholas' words were soft yet to the point – he didn't dance around the subject, and the Russian respected that greatly.

"I know what Anna is to you, and I know what you are to her – years ago when you two first met and you both formed such a profound friendship, I have always known deep down that it would come to this. I just want you both to know that whatever has happened between all of us, I am not the person you once knew. You are both young, but I know that you have always found a way together, and I have no doubt that it will continue for years to come."

There was a moment of silence as the bluenette took in what the dark haired male had just said. He could hear the message loud and clear: neither he nor the brunette needed permission (not that they ever asked for it in the first place) and they had the support of the one person – whether they liked it or not – who they had continually strived to win the approval from. The two stopped for a moment to look at each other, ocean blue meeting deep amethyst as they finally faced each other as one man to another. Both of them knew that they were almost virtually the same as each other – neither of them could hide their true motives from each other.

"Despite whatever you did to her, Anna has always protected you. You should know that even though she may seem to hate you, she really cares about you – and for my part, I'll be honest with you: I'm not sure I can forgive you for what you did to her…but I know you never meant to. But just so you know, if she ever comes to any harm at your hands – there won't be a second chance." The amethyst eyed teen said bluntly, no traces of any emotion in his face as his gaze remained level with the equally blank one that was staring back at him.

Nicholas did not reply for a moment, but merely smiled slightly as he looked at the eldest Bladebreaker stood before him. "I'll hold you to that. You have always protected my daughter – therefore I am indebted to you for giving her the love and care I did not give her." He replied softly. He couldn't help but think that the way the Phoenix blader was so protective of his blue eyed girl was how he was so protective of Elizabeth: as much as many of his friends, colleagues and his advisors over the years disregarded his interest in astrology as of little consequence in how people's lives play out, he could still see the truth in it.

Both he and Kai were Scorpios, their partners a Cancer and a Piscean. The fact that they were all so well paired in terms of the astrological wheel was enough to say to anyone that had an intention of or even tried to harm the bonds that kept them together, would imminently face the wrath of the water creatures of the Zodiac. But another thing that struck him was the unbreakable loyalty and devotion that the Winged Unicorn blader and the Russian in particular had towards one another; never had seen a couple so young remain completely faithful to each other – without even the slightest thought about thinking of another as a potential partner. Yet in that, he also knew that the twelfth sign of the Zodiac was well protected by the strength of the ninth sign.

As he watched the bluenette walk off to catch up with his daughter, subtly bringing his hand towards hers to touch her fingers as they curled automatically at the touch, the eldest Moonshine then felt a slight smirk come to his lips as he caught sight of the move. Like any father and husband, he couldn't wait to get back to his wife to tell her all about how the two most arrogant young teenagers on the planet just couldn't quite conceal how attracted they were to each other - especially after the way a pair of amethyst eyes were now straying to a well rounded backside that were shaped nicely by a new fitted pair of black jeans...

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_**Piscesgirl09/xXxCometxXx:** Finally! Got another chapter up - making slow but steady progress at last *Phew!* Sorry everybody for keeping you all hanging: I've been trying to update all of my stories as much as I can etc etc - I just hope that this one will keep you all entertained as much as my other updates...I must say, I think I'm getting longer and longer with my chapters as I keep practicing...over 6000 words this one O.o; And some people have the cheek to say that writers don't work hard -.-;;;; Anyways - rant over! Hope you all enjoy this chapter and stay tuned for the next one; reviews and comments and what not appreciated as always =) Cheers!_


	26. In Your Arms, I'm Home

_**The following said story 'Love is like Fire...' is strictly property of Piscesgirl09©.**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check and Callum Fennel belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters.  
The additional individuals of the persons Annastacia Moonshine, Rachel Smith, Rebecca Howard, Elaina Dela Vega, Stephanie Banks, Kathryn Capulet, Abigail Wise, Natasha Tolland, Jacob Baldwin, Marcus Check and Callum Fennels auto biographies exclusively belong to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters auto biographies.  
The storyline of the story 'Love is like Fire…' belongs exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of this very storyline.  
The ideas put forward to the creation of 'Love is like Fire…' belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very ideas. **_

_**I, Piscesgirl09, do not own Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any individuals of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the individuals of Beyblade auto biographies.  
I do not claim possession of any of the original storyline of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the ideas put forward in the creation of Beyblade.**_

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_**Thank you for your co-operation.**_

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_The lyrics (indicated by the italics at the nearer the bottom of the chapter) used in this chapter are 'Arms' by Christina Perri, to which I claim absolutely no ownership of._

* * *

Kai was lying asleep in bed, his mind for once completely empty as his eyes kept tightly shut and he listened to tweets of the birds from outside. Then somewhere his mind he registered the bed shifting slightly, a warm body sliding on top of his as his eyelids flickered to see some light shining into them. A pair of lips pressed gently against his own as he let out a sigh through his nose. It only took a second for him to respond, his arms moving to wrap around a tiny waist to pull the body closer to his.

As the kiss slowly ended, the bluenette opened his eyes sleepily: he smiled fondly as he saw none other Anna above him, her ocean like orbs brighter than ever as the sunlight caught her face and made them sparkle – she was staring at him tenderly as she cupped his cheek. "Happy birthday." She murmured softly, only to be answered with another kiss, although slightly more passionate than the last.

The couple moved sensually against one another as their lips remained locked, their breathing in tandem as the Russian's larger hand pressed the tomboy's head down so her mouth was pushed tightly against his. Grunting slightly, she pulled away with a smirk, her thighs clamping around his hips as she kept her head hovering just above his so her lips were so tantalisingly close – just not close enough for him to satisfy his sudden want to ravish her.

"I have somewhere I want to take you today...a little...surprise." She said playfully, watching slight amusement as her boyfriend's amethyst eyes light up with something that was bold and daring. Now she had his full attention. The two knew the innuendos were their own way of flirting – not that their belief in sex was the main priority in their relationship, but in some ways it was still very important: for them, the intimacy they shared when they were alone was both pleasurable and therapeutic, making their bond stronger.

Recently, they were finding it so hard to control themselves around each other – anyone watching within the family and friendship quite frankly found it hilarious. The physical closeness they shared was almost subtle, yet so obvious at the same time – they weren't body shy around each other; neither were afraid to touch or be touched by one another, and everything they experimented with was slowly building up to a point when they would not be able to hold it back any longer.

"Really?" The Phoenix blader replied coyly, his hand now moving down to caress the brunette's rear as he smirked back up at her. "Are you going you show me then?" His voice became a teasing whisper. When she did not respond immediately, but continued to look down at him with dancing eyes, his stroking went from being light before gradually getting heavier until his hand squeezed her – upon the feel of the firmer touch, she eventually sighed and gave in, letting out a dry chuckle as she lifted herself to stretch so that her tank top lifted to reveal her pale stomach.

"Get up and get ready so I can." The blue eyed female flashed him a cheeky smile as she got off the bed and deliberately swayed her hips from one side to the other as she walked towards the exit from the bedroom to the dojo corridor. The young Hiwatari grinned as he leapt out of bed to follow her, enjoying the way she giggled whilst pushing her towards the bathroom.

Now this was going to be a good birthday morning.

* * *

"A private jet?" Kai raised a slight eyebrow as the car pulled up onto the air field, where the everyone was hastily rushing around trying to prep the flight ready for their two important guests. He cast a glance at his watch. 7:47am. _Good thing we both got an early night last night..._He thought as he looked at the very wide awake Winged Unicorn blader, who turned to him with a small smile on her face. Thinking about it now, she was the one who had convinced him to get an early night – must have been for this 'surprise' then…but as much as he knew her quite well, he had no idea what was up her sleeve right now.

"Come on! The quicker we get to where we are, the sooner we find out." The young Moonshine chuckled as she caught the slightly blank expression on her boyfriend's face, giving him a slight punch on the arm as she got out of the car, giving a brief thank you to the driver as she went to greet the pilot. Still a bit bewildered by it all, the bluenette silently got out of his side of the car and went to go and join her at the side.

"Good morning, Mr Hiwatari. Are you both ready to board the plane?" The pilot was a male who was now approaching his forties, smartly dressed and very polite as he addressed the couple. The Russian gave him a nod of acknowledgement as he recognised the man as being the guy who had flown the two teens around the world when they were younger, employed by Nicholas Moonshine – Nigel Hopkins was the name, and despite all the turmoil that had gone on in those years, he had been another adult like the nurse Grace who had helped them as much as possible to stay safe under the radar from suspicion.

"Yes we are, Nigel. Ready when you are." Anna replied calmly, a faint smile on her face as she looked at the familiar man who had been so loyal to her and the amethyst eyed teen in those early years – another person she was indebted to. Without further ado, the Welsh man gave a slight bow as he allowed his colleagues to escort his young charges on board whilst he went to go and prepare for take-off. Casting his co-pilot a hidden smile, he mentally how much more happy and relaxed the couple looked nowadays; a definite and very pleasant change to the children he once knew as distanced and almost unable to interact normally with anyone other than each other.

The tomboy took the Phoenix blader's hand as they climbed on the jet, where two seats and a nice looking breakfast was sat waiting for them. "So are you going to tell me where we are going?" She heard her boyfriend speak behind her. A coy expression adorned her face as she turned and placed an arm on his shoulder as he stood in front of her with his hands buried in his pockets.

"And spoil the surprise? I thought Scorpio's liked a bit of a mystery." The brunette said slyly, using the same teasing tone she used this morning. The young Hiwatari then smirked as he took his hands out of his pockets and slipped them around the petite waist in front of him, pushing the two of them backwards towards their seats.

"Well, seeing as you disturbed my little exploration this morning, I guess I'll have to wait to do my detective work later." He whispered in her ear, feeling his girlfriend grin against his neck as she planted a small kiss in the crook of where his shoulders rose and fell gently with his breathing.

The blue eyed female said nothing more as she pulled away and sat down in her seat, beckoning him to join her as he took the seat next to her. Before long the two started their breakfast in silent and waited until they heard Nigel starting up the engines within the jet. "Good morning everyone – a very happy birthday to the birthday boy. We are just about to take off, so do up your seat belts and I hope you have a pleasant flight with us." He spoke over the intercom, the laughter behind his voice evident before he switched off the speakers, looking at his co-pilot with the knowledge that their young charge would probably do an eye roll upon being called the 'birthday boy'.

And indeed, Kai did roll his eyes as he scowled slightly, despite not really minding the fact that people hadn't forgotten his birthday. The Winged Unicorn blader smirked as she stifled a chuckle, taking a sip of her orange juice as her boyfriend cast her a wry glance. "Very funny, Anna." He said with a slight smirk, watching as she snorted slightly with laughter, trying not to spill her drink.

"I can assure you there won't be any more silly jokes or anything else like that for the rest of the day." The young Moonshine replied with a small smile, and within minutes the jet began to take off as it slowly rose into the sky. She looked out of the window as she suddenly remembered the last time the both of them had a birthday together. Needless to say, with all the shit going on at that time, it hadn't been the most enjoyable time – they spent half their time looking over their shoulder to see if someone was about to stab them or do something else that wouldn't bring a desirable end.

She couldn't say she missed those days...but then she found that she was getting sentimental over silly little memories, like each Christmas the two of them had made a tradition that they gave each other a painting or something else created by hand; or for another example, when Kai or her would win their beyblading tournaments with flying colours, and either one of them would be behind each other, cheering the other on all the way.

Anna felt a hand touch her face as she turned to see amethyst eyes staring at her intently, scanning her face rapidly. "Hey." She heard him murmur gently, stroking her cheek as he gave her a small smile. "This means a lot to me. Thank you." He said with absolute sincerity, watching as she stared at him with her dark ocean orbs that were now as wide as the stretch of the earth.

In that moment, the bluenette was surrendered entirely to her with the way she was looking at him: so many things filled the depths of her eyes, but one thing that stood out for him was that he knew no matter what he would ask of her, she would be the first to leap for him - and when she would leap, she would travel universes and more, just as he would for her, so the two of them could stay in each other's eyes.

* * *

"We have now arrived at our destination. Thank you for flying with us, my good lady and sir, and we shall see you again this afternoon." Nigel's voice rang out from the speakers as Kai leapt forward from his seat as the plane bumped onto land, realising that he had been asleep until then. His head whipped round to see the tomboy coming to as well from her slumber, stretching as she yawned slightly. He could only smile as he studied the way her arms would rise up towards the skies as though heaven was not high enough for her – plus also, he had to admit to himself, she looked slightly cute as her bleary eyes slowly opened and she could barely register what was going on.

"Hello little Miss Sleepy." The bluenette greeted with a smirk, earning a slight eye roll in reply as the brunette gave a small smile and as she undid her belt and stood up to stretch her legs.

"I'll let that one slide birthday boy. Come and see where I've taken you for the day." She replied as picked up a pair of sunglasses. Raising a slightly eyebrow, the Russian followed her lead and got up from his seat, wondering where on earth they could've gone for the day. As he climbed down from the jet, it took all of his will power not to have his mouth drop open: he was now standing in Thailand – a place he had never been to before, and had been one of his bucket list destinations since he and his girlfriend had been young.

Smiling, the blue eyed female turned to look at her boyfriend and chuckled slightly at the shocked expression on his face, knowing that her little surprise had hit the mark. "Welcome to Bangkok, Thailand! What do you think?" She said as she walked over towards him, her hands in her pockets as she gazed at his wondering face – needless to say, this had not been what the amethyst eyed teen had expected: of course, judging from the fact they had to get a jet, he knew they were going somewhere outside of Japan – but Thailand? All he could think was – Wow.

The Phoenix blader didn't know what to say. But then that didn't mean to say he was disappointed – in fact, he was far from it! He looked down at the petite female in front of him and felt this odd swelling feeling in his heart; it wasn't a bad feeling, and he knew he had felt it before – that overwhelming sense of affection and admiration he had for the girl who had always pulled all the stops out for him, who when it came to the people she cared deeply about, she went all the way for.

"This is amazing." He breathed as he reached to put an arm around the Winged Unicorn blader's waist, drawing her into him as she willingly accepted his warmth and allowed him to hold her. He closed his eyes for a moment as he again began to think of everything they had been through to get to where they were now: after seventeen years of being trapped in a world where the truth was something almost obscure, the two of them were now standing in such a beautiful and colourful location – neither had to think about danger; neither had to consciously worry that someone would track them down just to put a gun to their head – their life was now entirely their own.

The two broke apart and looked at each other, word nor action able to define what they felt. "So - where do you want to go first?" Anna asked quietly, her eyes shimmering slightly at the thought of finally exploring somewhere new. The young Hiwatari looked thoughtful for a moment before he pointed towards a temple up in the distance.

Smiling, the tomboy pulled out what looked like a map and started to lead the way.

* * *

"Fucking Russian skin." Kai grumbled as he felt the sun cream being rubbed into his back, sitting in a peacefully secluded part of the Bang Saen beach a couple of miles out from Bangkok after having explored all the temples and the jungles they could find. The brunette chuckled as she covered every muscle she could find as the peak heat time of the day started to die down – though for the both of them, it still meant completely covering themselves in the sticky substance as their skin was sensitive to hot and humid environments. Unfortunately, Thailand was one of the worst places for humidity, despite its stunning location.

"And English skin." She said in reply, kissing the bluenette's shoulder as she wiped her hands on her beach towel and then stood up to stretch. Though she was feeling slightly sticky, she could still feel the raw warmth of the sunshine as it shone on the parts of her body exposed by her midnight blue bikini. And then there was the smell of the salt coming from the ocean as the waves lapped calmly on the shore – a sweet abundant scent that was tempting her to go and dive into them.

_I never thought that you,  
Would be the one to hold my heart,  
But you came around,  
Then you knocked me off the ground,  
From the start_

Turning to her boyfriend, the blue eyed female gave a small smile. "I'm gonna go for a swim." She said as she started walking away, before turning to jog towards the water. The amethyst eyed male sat up as he curiously watched the way she ran so freely against the breeze: it had been a long time since he'd seen her bound towards an open space without looking over shoulder constantly – heck, it had been quite a while since either of them visited the beach properly.

The Winged Unicorn blader reached the water and without any hesitation, dived into the clear depths of the sea, embracing the tropical warmth of it as she moved effortlessly beneath. Although she did not have goggles on so she could see more clearly, she could still the brilliant green of the vegetation further down and the speckled light of the sun shining through the blanket of turquoise surrounding her. Never had she felt more at home than with the water.

Finally feeling the oxygen run short, the young Moonshine rose up and broke the surface whilst taking a breath. Her eyelids fluttered as she felt a hand reach out to wipe the water from her eyes, the bright blue of her dark orbs slowly focusing as the blurred edges of her vision began to disappear. Before she could say anything, a pair of lips slammed down hers, passionate and demanding as she responded with eagerness, her eyes sliding shut as she completely submitted to the strength and power searing from the mouth that was upon her own.

_You put your arms around me,  
And I believe that it's,  
Easier for you to let me go,  
You put your arms around me and I'm home_

As the kiss broke for the participants to get some air, Anna opened her eyes dazedly to see the Phoenix blader staring at her through heavily lidded eyes, his breathing although quiet now a bit faster as he tried to catch his breath. Without waiting for any reply, he placed his lips back on hers and hoisted her up against him, his hands first hooking under thighs before placing them around her waist whilst her legs automatically wrapped around him.

The young Hiwatari kept moving them forward into the water as they continued to kiss in steady rhythm, until the sea reached halfway up his torso as he held his girlfriend tightly against him. The atmosphere was now almost hazy as the warm water caressed the lovers' skin gently; the waves washed gently against them, pushing ever so slightly as they stood solid on the bed of the sea refusing to move. Their hands were everywhere, feeling every single inch of skin and fibre they could reach.

Kai's hands then rose to the strings of the tomboy's bikini, beginning to tug at them as he felt her sigh and break away from the kiss. "Not here." She rasped, her voice hoarse as breathed heavily, looking into her boyfriend's amethyst orbs so that he grasped her meaning. Letting her down onto the ground, he grabbed her hand and the two began to run back towards the little hut that they would be staying in for the night. They didn't bother picking up their towels as they jogged past, too driven by the heat.

_How many times will you let me change my mind,  
And turn around,  
I can't decide if I'll let you save my life,  
Or if I'll drown,  
I hope that you see right through my walls,  
I hope that you catch me,  
'Cause I'm already falling,  
I'll never let a love get so close,  
You put your arms around me and I'm home_

As soon as they entered the hut and shut the door, the brunette turned round and froze as she caught the fiery gaze of the bluenette staring at her as he slowly walked towards her, she stepping forwards to meet him half way. Neither uttered a word as the gap between their bodies gradually closed, the two of them standing against one another staring, lost in each other's eyes. Her gaze dropped as she raised one hand and pressed it against his chest, feeling the strength of the beat of his heart underneath the warmth of her palm.

The Russian sighed as he dropped his head to rest it on top of hers, breathing deeply whilst taking the scent of his surroundings: moisture from the humidity of the air; salt from the ocean as the scent lingered heavily on the air; and then there was the smell of her – sometimes when they were together, he would take a moment to memorise it. She always smelt of the sea, a cool and refreshing fragrance that could calm even the fiercest of tempers and storms. Yet underneath the potency of it, there was also a flowery quality to her – ever since they had been young, when they had been in the outdoors, she would always come back smelling of plants: roses, lavender, lilies, daisies, hibiscus, lotuses – there was never just the one. Much like her personality, she was a vast mix of everything.

He then cupped the blue eyed female's face and his lips descended on hers, first start gently before becoming slightly more forceful as every single ounce of his control slipped away with each moment that she returned his passion. He couldn't express it any other way – what he felt for her, what he would do for her – everything he couldn't verbalize like any other human being went into every kiss and caress he wanted to fill her with. And this time, with no one else but them, he was prepared to go to every length possible to show her that she was his world.

_The world is coming down on me and I can't,  
Find a reason to be loved,  
I never wanna leave you but I can't,  
Make you bleed if I'm alone,  
You put your arms around me,  
And I believe that it's  
Easier for you to let me go_

The Winged Unicorn blader was momentarily stunned as she welcomed the amethyst eyed male's touch, completely mesmerised by his strength and his intensity. Nothing else was in her mind other than him. Before long the two were now backed up against the bed they would be sharing, the backs of her knees hitting the edge of it as they collided – but neither could be distracted; in fact, they went further backwards until he was on top of her, bracing himself on his arms and knees as he trapped her beneath him.

Although she was enjoying herself, the young Moonshine wasn't quite prepared to surrender herself yet, so turned them over so that she was sat on his hips. The two broke the kiss again, their lips parted as they gasped for air. She could feel his heat through the material of his swimming trunks, through his hands now gripping her thighs. Wanting to move things forward, she surely but shyly reached up to untie the strings of her bikini top. The Phoenix blader's eye widened slightly as grip of the grip of his hands got tighter, watching intently as the fabric of the bikini top fell away, leaving her torso completely bare as she looked at him hesitantly.

He knew that she was nervous. She knew that he was nervous. Of course they had grown up together and had occasionally witnessed each other without being fully clothed as children. But this was on a whole new scale – he was a man and she was a woman. They looked at each other, their eyes now revealing everything they hid from the outside world: the young Hiwatari looked at his girlfriend's pale skin as it glowed in the orange sunlight streaming through the cracks in the wall of the hut. Even when he had seen her flesh before, she had never seemed so vulnerable before him – not until now. She wasn't now the hard faced warrior that faced with world with a deathly stare. In that instance, she was just like every other female who was ready to accept a man's love.

_I hope that you see right through my walls,  
I hope that you catch me,  
'Cause I'm already falling,  
I'll never let a love get so close,  
You put your arms around me and I'm home,_

Kai then sat up as his hands went under her arms and snaked up her back, bringing his face close so that his nose was touching hers and the fire of his breath was now on her lips. Anna closed her eyes as she breathed in, holding onto his broad shoulders as her naked chest pressed against his own, too taking in the scent of him. There was an almost musky smell to him that reminded her of winter, and for whatever reason there was also a hint of pine and cinnamon that she had grown so familiar with over the years. It made her feel so much more secure being in his arms, and to some degree she despised herself for it – because she knew he could sense her falling completely open to him; she knew that when he looked her she couldn't anything from him – she hated it.

Like him, she was a prideful creature. Emotions as far as she was concerned merely clouded judgement, made people do outrageous and often inexplicable things – to everyone else, it was her will and her nature alone other than how she had been brought up that she refused to let anyone inside. But then as soon as the bluenette came along, her stature seemed to slip like a carpet being pulled from under her feet and she would forever land in his arms, counting herself both blessed and lucky to have him. And then she would curse herself as well: as it was written in the creed of her family, when one shared such a deep and profound bond with someone they loved, they could not harm them in any way – not physically, mentally, psychologically - nothing. And this would not be the first time she realised her only weakness was in the love she had for him.

_I tried my best to never let you,  
In to see the truth,  
And I've never opened up,  
I've never truly loved 'till you,  
Put your arms around me,  
And I believe that it's,  
Easier for you to let me go_

But now all of those thoughts had been shoved to the back of her mind and it was a job trying to remember how to breathe as once she was enclosed in a lip lock with the only person who had the ability to make her melt. The Russian then turned her over so she was once again on her back, leaving a trail of fiery kisses as he traced her body with his hands. The tomboy felt her eyes slowly close shut, suddenly finding herself unable to look at him anymore. For whatever reason, she was now starting to tremble – she was neither hot nor cold, nor bold nor afraid. So why?

Then she felt a hand cup her cheek. Her eyes opened hazily to see amethyst eyes staring at her intently, almost with a hint of concern as they loomed over her, hypnotizing her. "Hey." She heard him murmur, stroking her gently as he continued to look at her. A lump formed in her throat as she found herself unable to talk, nor able to express herself. But like with most things around her boyfriend, she didn't have to try. He always seemed to know what she was going through. Like now, she was shaking underneath him and he didn't have to ask what it was – he just cradled her. Held her tight to let her know that he was still there.

Pulling a hand from where it was lying slightly numb at her side, she reached up and stroked his face, tracing his eyebrows, his cheeks, his lips…Then her dark blue orbs caught his and she stopped. Do you? Yes. Together? Always. The Phoenix blader felt a small, tender smile grace his lips as he saw how what they were about to do had rendered the brunette for once completely abashed and clueless, knowing that she knew what she could do with her hands, with her lips – yet she wouldn't dare for fear of getting it wrong or for fear that she was maybe not ready.

_I hope that you see right through my walls,  
I hope that you catch me,  
'Cause I'm already falling,  
I'll never let a love get so close,  
You put your arms around me and I'm home_

He kissed her forehead as he slowly hooked his thumbs through her bikini bottoms and began to slide them down, her legs moving without caution to let them come off at the end of her feet. Finally feeling some of her confidence return, the blue eyed female reached down so that her fingers brushed the waistband of his swimming trunks, tugging them so they began to pull off his hips. The young Hiwatari felt his heart jump slightly as the material rubbed against, stifling a groan as he shifted to let the clothing fall away from him.

He then pulled her legs forward so they were either side of his waist, then placing his hands on the bed so he didn't squash her. She then held his arms as she reached up and kissed his throat, spreading her legs a bit wider to let him in. Slowly, they were moving and within moments, the universe seemed to spin as suddenly her back arched, a gasp wrenching itself from her throat as he whispered her name in her ear.

_You put your arms around me and I'm home_

The light in the hut started to turn almost blue as the moon rose in the distance whilst time passed somewhat slowly for the two lovers. But one thing Kai knew he would never forget was when he had looked at the girl he loved, knowing he was panting, that he was an absolute slave to her in that moment and that whatever happened, he would do anything for her. He saw how her face had lit up in the darkness of the moonlight, halfway between euphoria and a sense of completion, as her ocean like eyes stared back at him as though he were everything. And that was when he understood.

* * *

_**Piscesgirl09/xXxCometxXx:** Hello my faithful reader! I am SO sorry it's taken so bloody long to update at least one thing - there has been so much going on and now exams are looming O.o; So creations will be few and far between, but they will be done, I can assure you. Please give any feedback/comments at all, they are all greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading =) Cheers!_


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